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Mariner 8 (Mariner H)

Mariner 8 (Mariner H)

Designed to be the first American spacecraft to study the Red Planet from a Martian orbit, Mariner 8 (also called Mariner H) fell victim to a malfunction in the stage's flight-control system shortly after launch.

Mission Statistics

Launch Date

May 8, 1971

Type

Orbiter

Target

Mars

Status

Past

About the mission

Designed to be the first American spacecraft to study the Red Planet from a Martian orbit, Mariner 8 (also called Mariner H) fell victim to a malfunction in the stage's flight-control system shortly after launch.

However, Mariner 9, the second of the pair of spacecraft created under NASA's Mariner Mars 71 project, successfully took on Mariner 8's objective to map 70 percent of the Martian surface.

Instruments

  • Infrared radiometer
  • Ultraviolet spectrometer
  • Infrared interferometer spectrometer

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Perseverance Rover Looks West

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Mariner 8 Information on Solar System Exploration
Mariner 8 Information on National Space Science Data Center

Explore Other Missions

Mariner 4

MarCO

Perseverance Rover

Mariner 7

InSight

Mariner 3

Mars Climate Orbiter

Mariner 9 (Mariner I)

Mariner 6

Opportunity Rover

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