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Mariner 3

Mariner 3

Mariner 3 was designed to fly by Mars and conduct other interplanetary experiments along the way.

Mission Statistics

Launch Date

Nov. 5, 1964

Type

Flyby Spacecraft

Target

Mars

Status

Past

About the mission

Mariner 3 was designed to fly by Mars and conduct other interplanetary experiments along the way. However, soon after its launch, the shroud encasing the spacecraft atop its rocket failed to open properly and the mission was unsuccessful.

Three weeks later, the Mariner 4 spacecraft launched successfully on an eight-month journey to the Red Planet and collected the first up-close photographs of another planet.

Instruments

  • Imaging system
  • Magnetometer
  • Plasma probe
  • Cosmic ray telescope
  • Trapped radiation detector
  • Cosmic ray ionization
  • Cosmic dust detector

More about Mars

Image .

Daedalia Planum

Image .

Daedalia Planum

Image .

Crater Gullies

Image .

Perseverance's Three Forks Sample Depot Map

Image .

WATSON Documents Final Tube Dropped at Three Forks Sample Depot

News .

NASA’s Perseverance Rover Completes Mars Sample Depot

Image .

Ius Chasma

Image .

Windstreak

Image .

Sirenum Fossae

Image .

Claritas Fossae

Fact Sheet
Mariner 3 Information on Solar System Exploration
Mariner 3 Information on National Space Science Data Center

Explore Other Missions

Mariner 6

MarCO

Mariner 7

InSight

Opportunity Rover

Mariner 9 (Mariner I)

Perseverance Rover

Mariner 4

Mars Climate Orbiter

Mariner 8 (Mariner H)

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