Mariner 9: First Spacecraft to Orbit Mars

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Mariner 9: First Spacecraft to Orbit Mars







Mariner 9 was the first orbital mission to Mars. After arriving on the Red Planet in November of 1971, the images of Mariner 9 transformed our perception of Mars from a cold and cratered planet to a world full of past geological activity and a planet that once had water.



		

		The Mariner 9 cameras were the first to capture the range of Martian geology. The images of the spacecraft included images of the polar ice caps of Mars, the vast canyon of the Valles Marineris and the Martian moons (Phobos and Deimos). Marine 9 also discovered evidence that water had flowed on the planet in the ancient past.



				An extended operation

				NASA had sent spacecraft to Mars Several times before, but those missions were relatively short flights.

				In the early days of planetary exploration, the agency's strategy was to launch pairs of spacecraft to Mars so that there would be a backup if one of the spacecraft failed.

				Mariner 4 was the first spacecraft to glide across Mars in 1965, and captured the first images of a planet close by. His twin ship, Mariner 3, failed during the launch.

				Four years later, Mariners 6 and 7 joined together to fly over Mars a few days apart. Mariner 7 took a picture of Phobos, one of the Martian moons.

				The missions were successful, but to achieve a better understanding of the planet, longer-term observations were needed. With more time, spacecraft could document the changes in the seasons of the Red Planet and take detailed measurements of the atmosphere, magnetic field and various surface characteristics.

				Then, NASA added more weight and instruments to Mariners 8 and 9, which the agency planned to have in orbit around the planet. The spacecraft needed more fuel and required a more robust propulsion system for extended operations. Each spacecraft weighed more than Mariners 6 and 7 combined.

				Mariner 8 took off on May 9, 1971, from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on a mission that lasted only 6 minutes. Due to a problem with the main engine of the upper floor, the spacecraft arced over the Atlantic Ocean and crashed into the water about 350 miles (560 kilometers) north of Puerto Rico, according to NASA.

				After the Mariner 8 accident, NASA decided to send the Mariner 9 spacecraft in an Atlas-Centaur rocket on May 30, 1971. Mariner 9 arrived in space and set a course for the Red Planet.





						


The Mariner 9 spacecraft.

            						    Credit: NASA 




				Darkened Mars

				After 167 days of space flight, Mariner 9 arrived on Mars on November 14, 1971. It launched its rocket for about 15 minutes to go into orbit, a great achievement for NASA after the previous overflight missions.

				In space, however, things rarely go according to plan. Mariner 9 was ready to take pictures, but the planet was wrapped in a global dust storm. This in itself was a discovery: astronomers had suspected that these dust storms existed, but it was the first time they had seen them up close.

				Still, it meant that NASA had to wait to take pictures of the surface. Only the top of the massive. Olympus Monsvolcano, as well as the three Tharsis volcanoes, you could see peeking in the dust.

				The dust began to clear in the coming weeks, settling in January 1972. When the curtain was raised, a planet full of changes and perhaps a colorful past was revealed.

				"Some of the observed features include ancient river beds, craters, massive extinct volcanoes, canyons, layered polar deposits, evidence of wind-driven deposition and erosion of sediments, climate fronts, ice clouds, localized dust storms, fog in the morning and more "NASA wrote in a mission summary.

				Along with the search for evidence of water flowing in the past, "the question of the existence of life on Mars intensified," NASA wrote of Mariner 9.

				"It was clear that Mars had provoked many more questions that a landing vehicle could respond better."

				The spacecraft took 7,329 images and managed to capture the image of 80 percent of the Martian surface in less than a year, NASA said.





						


Mariner 9, a NASA probe in 1971-2, was the first to orbit the red planet, instead of flying, and produced what were, at the time, remarkably detailed maps of the planet. This image of the Oxia Palus quad, taken by Mariner 9, shows a large area of ​​the surface of Mar. The horizontal extension of the map is one quarter of the circumference of the planet, while the vertical axis extends from the equator (the edge bottom of the map) a third of the way to the North Pole of the planet. The quadrilateral Oxia Palus is one of the 30 regions in which NASA divides Mars for the purpose of mapping. 

            						    Credit: UCL Faculty of Mathematical and Physical Sciences.  




				A vast canyon and other discoveries.

				Among the discoveries of Mariner 9 was a vast canyon that stretches 2,500 miles (4,000 km) across the planet, almost 10 times more than the Grand Canyon, and reaches a depth of 4 miles (7 km). ). The massive crack extended a quarter of the way around Mars.

				The feature was later named Valles Marineris, after its discoverer of the spacecraft. In later decades, scientists have debated the origins of the canyon.

				At least one group of researchers believes that Valles Marineris aims to evidence of plate tectonics In mars. A separate study looking at a nearby canyon suggested Salts in the superficial layers. The regolith of Mars collapsed when it warmed up, opening a crack in the surface.

				Mariner 9 also broadcast images of the Martian south pole, whose layers hinted that the red planet might have had different environments in the past.

				NASA has kept a close watch on the pole in other missions. Mars Global Surveyor They found evidence that carbon dioxide deposits at the pole were shrinking. Mars Odyssey stained vast expanses of water ice, and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter saw "dry ice" snowflakes Falling from the clouds near the pole.

				In addition, Mariner 9 took photographs of seeming river beds that meandered across the surface. The spacecraft also captured relatively close views of the moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos.

				Mariner 9 showed researchers that Mars is a rapidly changing place. The mission helped to point the way for future interesting scientific objectives.



				Legacy of Mariner 9

				After almost a year in orbit, Mariner 9 ran out of attitude control gas, the fuel needed to control the orientation of the ship. NASA shut down the ship on October 27, 1972.

				NASA expects Mariner 9 to be in orbit high enough to keep flying around Mars until at least 2022, but at some point, the spacecraft will enter the atmosphere and crash into the planet's surface.

				The orbital mission of Mariner 9 was essential before sending a lander to Mars, said Donna Shirley, an aerospace engineer who worked on several NASA efforts on Mars and is best known for managing the Pioneer and Sojourner missions

				"If we had launched something to land in 1971, it would have been foolish, I mean, we did not know much about the atmosphere," he said in an interview. 2001 Oral History Interview of NASA..

				"The Martian atmosphere varies a lot between summer and winter, much more than the Earth's atmosphere because it is thin and inflates very easily when heated and then collapses in the winter," Shirley said. "So there were enough uncertainties that making an orbiter first was definitely the smartest thing to do."





						


In a photo taken at the beginning of the Mariner 9 mission, Olympus Mons is on a Martian dust storm.

            						    Credit: NASA / Jet Propulsion Laboratory 




				After Mariner 9

				Mariner 9 paved the way for future expeditions to Mars.

				NASA program managers used images from Mariner 9 to plan the Viking 1 Y Viking 2 Landers, which both landed successfully on Mars in 1976. Over the past three decades, NASA has continued to send spacecraft to Mars.

				Some of Mars' most recent missions include NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which arrived in March 2006, found rock types formed by water, as well as possible signs of water flow on the surface; the Opportunity Y Spirit The rovers, who arrived in January 2004, found evidence of ancient water at their landing sites; and in August 2014 Curiosity landed on Mars and continues to explore Aeolis Mons (Mount Sharp) to follow the history of habitability and water on Mars. NASA also has orbiters on Mars called Mars Odyssey, which landed on Mars in October 2001 and the Atmosphere of Mars and mission of volatile evolution. (MAVEN), which landed in November 2014. Mars InSight is scheduled to land on November 26, 2018.

				NASA is not alone in its quest to explore the Red Planet, as other space agencies have participated over the years. Some of the largest missions include Europe Mars Express and from India Mission of Mars Orbiter. Europe and Russia plan to launch their collaboration. ExoMars Rover in 2020, while NASA plans to send its Rover de Marte 2020 To look for ancient organisms on the surface of the planet.



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