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Mariner 4 Facts & Worksheets

One of the great successes of the early American space program, the Mariner 4 mission journeyed to Mars

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Just like the first pair attempt, Mariner 3 was aborted after its launch shroud failed to separate and the spacecraft was not placed on the correct trajectory. On the other hand, the Mariner 4 mission returned the first close-up images of another planet’s surface.

See the fact file below for more information on the Mariner 4 or alternatively, you can download our 24-page Mariner 4 worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

The Mariner Program

  • The Mariner program is series of ten unmanned exploration probes launched between 1962 and 1973. 
  • The U.S. space probes were designed by NASA‘s Jet Propulsion Laboratory to investigate the planets Mars, Venus, and Mercury.
  • The missions were launched on Atlas rockets. Due to reliability issues with the earlier launchers, three Mariner missions failed.
  • However, the program accomplished important space successes, including the first mission to visit Venus (Mariner 2), the first successful Mars encounter (Mariner 4), and the first mission to visit Mercury (Mariner 10).
  • Mariner 1 and 2 were designed to conduct flybys of Earth’s closest neighbor Venus. 
  • Mariner 1 was destroyed in a launch vehicle failure when the Atlas rocket veered off course and had to be destroyed.
  • Mariner 2 launched a month later and reached its closest approach to Venus by 34,773 km on 14 December 1962.
  • Mariner 3 and 4 were then designed to conduct flybys of the farther planet Mars.
  • Just like the first pair attempt, Mariner 3 was aborted after its launch shroud failed to separate and the spacecraft was not placed on the correct trajectory.
  • On the other hand, the Mariner 4 mission returned the first close-up images of another planet’s surface.
  • Mariner 5 served as a backup for Mariner 4. But since the mission was successful, the former was reconfigured for a Venus flyby for further research.
  • With confidence of successful missions, Mariner 6 and 7 were sent back to planet Mars to capture fuller and better images of the Martian surface.
  • Mariner 8 and 9, also known as “Mariner Mars 71”, were intended to enter orbit around the planet Mars. Mariner 8 did not reach the outer orbit of earth since its space shuttle Centaur failed, causing it to fall back on Earth.
  • Mariner 9 however successfully entered orbit around Mars and returned thousands of images of the Martian surface.
  • The final Mariner Mission (Marine 10/J) was the first spacecraft to make a flyby on two planets – Venus and Mercury. It sent over 2,700 pictures during its three Mercury flybys.

The Mariner 4

  • The interest of exploring planet Mars began in the late 1800s and early 1900s. However, it was American businessman Percival Lowell who had the first earnest study of the planet.
  • He claimed about seeing canals on the Red Planet that were possibly built by intelligent beings.
  • On the other hand, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), wanted to discover the possibility of life.
  • NASA originally wanted a lander to begin the explorations, but scaled back since the space shuttles were not yet equipped.
  • To test NASA’s capacity of engineering capabilities for interplanetary flights of long duration, they first sent Mariner 1 and 2. Following M2’s success, the scientists elected to send Mariner 3 and 4 together.
  • After Mariner 3’s failure, the scientists redesigned the latter resulting in a successful flyby.
  • After 7.5 months of flight with one midcourse maneuver on 5 December 1964, the Mariner 4 flew by Mars on July 14 and 15, 1965. The camera sequence started at July 15, eventually sending 21 grainy black and white images.
  • The total data returned by Mariner 4 was 5.2 million bits stored in the onboard tape recorder.

First Close Encounter

  • Pictured above left is first close-up image ever taken of Mars, covering the area of about 330 km across by 1200 km (205 miles by 745 miles). The center picture shows the first unambiguous craters on the surface of Mars and the picture on the right is the first enhanced photo of Mars.
  • With Mariner 4 viewing Mars from 6,200 miles to 10,500 miles (10,000 to 17,000 kilometers) up, NASA was yet to determine any signs of life. All they saw were images revealing a heavily cratered surface.
  • They further determined that it had no mountains, valleys or similar Earth-like features that could sustain life. Of course, later visits provided more precise results which showed otherwise. As a result, the scientists at that time were positive that it was “probably a dead planet.”
  • Other than some degradation of the plasma probe, a failed Geiger counter and eventual disconnection to the probe in December 21, 1967, the Mariner 4 mission was a success.
  • The total cost of the Mariner 4 mission is estimated at $83.2 million and under the leadership of Mr. Glenn A. Reiff (Program Manager), Dr. R. K. Sloan (Project Scientist) and Mr. Jack N. James (Project Manager).

Mariner 4 Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle that includes everything you need to know about the Mariner 4 across 24 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use our Mariner 4 worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about the Mariner 4 which is one of the great successes of the early American space program, the Mariner 4 mission journeyed to Mars — making its closest approach on July 15, 1965 — and took the first photos of another planet from space.

Complete List of Included Worksheets

  • Mariner 4 Facts
  • 10 Mariners
  • Mission Profile
  • The Mariner 4
  • Mariner’s Flight Pattern
  • Dream Come True
  • Images of Mars
  • Perseverance
  • Was there Life on Mars?
  • The Next Mission
  • Quick Review

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Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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