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Information about Mariner 9

Mariner 9

Organization:NASA
Mission type:Orbiter
[ edit]


Enlarge picture
Mariner 9 launch
Mariner 9 (Mariner Mars '71 / Mariner-I) was a NASA space probe orbiter that helped in the exploration of Mars and was part of the Mariner program. Mariner 9 was launched toward Mars on May 30, 1971 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and reached the planet on November 14 of the same year, becoming the first spacecraft to orbit another planet — only narrowly beating Soviet Mars 2 and Mars 3, which both arrived within a month. After months of dust-storms it managed to send back surprisingly clear pictures of the surface.

Objectives

Mariner 9 was designed to continue the atmospheric studies begun by Mariner 6 and 7, and to map over 70% of the Martian surface from the lowest altitude (1500 kilometers [about 900 miles]) and at the highest resolutions (1 kilometer per pixel to 100 meters per pixel) of any Mars mission up to that time. An infrared radiometer was included to detect heat sources as evidence of volcanic activity. It was to study temporal changes in the Martian atmosphere and surface. Mars' two moons were also to be analyzed. Mariner 9 more than met its objectives.

Instruments

  1. Ultraviolet Spectrometer (UVS)
  2. Infrared Interferometer Spectrometer (IRIS)
  3. Celestial Mechanics
  4. S-Band Occultation
  5. Infrared Radiometer (IRR)
  6. Television Photography

Achievements

Enlarge picture
Mariner 9 view of the Noctis Labyrinthus "labyrinth" at the western end of Valles Marineris.
Mariner 9 was the first spacecraft to orbit another planet. It carried an instrument payload similar to Mariner 6 and 7, but, because of the need for a larger propulsion system to control the spacecraft in Mars orbit, it weighed more than Mariners 6 and 7 combined. When Mariner 9 arrived at Mars, the atmosphere was so dusty that the surface was obscured. This unexpected situation made a strong case for the desirability of studying a planet from orbit rather than merely flying past. Mariner 9's computer was thus programmed from Earth to delay imaging of the surface for a couple of months until the dust settled. After 349 days in orbit, Mariner 9 had transmitted 7,329 images, covering over 80% of Mars' surface. The images revealed river beds, craters, massive extinct volcanoes (such as Olympus Mons, the largest known volcano in the Solar System), canyons (including the Valles Marineris, a system of canyons over 4,000 kilometers [about 2,500 miles] long), evidence of wind and water erosion and deposition, weather fronts, fogs, and more. Mars' tiny moons, Phobos and Deimos, were also photographed. The findings from the Mariner 9 missions underpinned the later Viking program.

The enormous Valles Marineris canyon system is named after Mariner 9 in honour of its achievements.

After depleting its supply of altitude control gas, the spacecraft was turned off on 27 October, 1972.

Construction

The ultraviolet spectrometer aboard Mariner 9 was constructed by the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics.

Present location

Mariner 9 is still in Mars orbit, stable until at least 2022, after which the spacecraft will enter the Martian atmosphere.

See also

  •  • [ e] 
Mariner Program
Previous mission: Mariner 8Next mission: Mariner 10
Mariner 1 | Mariner 2 | Mariner 3 | Mariner 4 | Mariner 5 | Mariner 6 and 7 | Mariner 8 | Mariner 9 | Mariner 10


 •  • [ e]
Spacecraft Missions to Mars
FlybysMariner 4 • Mariner 6 • Mariner 7 • Mars 4 • Rosetta
OrbitersMariner 9 • Mars 2 • Mars 3 • Mars 5 • Mars 6 • Viking 1 • Viking 2 • Phobos 2 • Mars Global Surveyor
Mars Odyssey • Mars Express Orbiter • Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
Landers and RoversMars 3 • Viking 1 • Viking 2 • Mars Pathfinder • Spirit rover • Opportunity rover
Future missionsDawn (2007) • Phoenix Scout (2007) • Mars Science Laboratory (2009) • Phobos-Grunt & Yinghuo-1 (2009) • (2009)
Mars Scout 2011 (2011) • Mars Science and Telecommunications Orbiter (2013) • ExoMars (2013) • Astrobiology Field Laboratory (2016) • Mars Sample Return Mission (2024?)
See alsoMars • Exploration of Mars • Colonization of Mars
(Bold: Active missions)

External links

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

NASA logo
Motto: For the Benefit of All[1]

NASA seal
Agency overview
Formed 29 July 1958

Headquarters Washington D.C.

Annual Budget $16.
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National Aeronautics and Space Administration

NASA logo
Motto: For the Benefit of All[1]

NASA seal
Agency overview
Formed 29 July 1958

Headquarters Washington D.C.

Annual Budget $16.
..... Click the link for more information.
Mars  

Mars as seen by the Hubble Space Telescope
Orbital characteristics
Epoch J2000<ref name="nssdc" />
Aphelion distance: 249,228,730 km
1.66599116 AU
Perihelion distance: 206,644,545 km
1.
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The Mariner program was a program conducted by the American space agency NASA that launched a series of robotic interplanetary probes designed to investigate Mars, Venus and Mercury.
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May 30 is the 1st day of the year (2nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 0 days remaining.

Events


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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1940s  1950s  1960s  - 1970s -  1980s  1990s  2000s
1968 1969 1970 - 1971 - 1972 1973 1974

Year 1971 (MCMLXXI
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Location: Merritt Island, Florida, USA

Coordinates: _ ]
Area: 1325 acres[]
Built/Founded: 1950+[1]

Added to NRHP: April 16, 1984
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November 14 is the 1st day of the year (2nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 0 days remaining.

Events


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planet, as defined by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), is a celestial body orbiting a star or stellar remnant that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity, not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion in its core, and has cleared its neighbouring region of
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Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (abbreviated USSR, Russian: (help info ) ; tr.
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The Mars program was a series of Mars unmanned landers and orbiters launched by the Soviet Union in the early 1970s.

The Mars 2 and Mars 3 missions consisted of identical spacecraft, each with an orbiter and an attached lander; they were the first human artifacts to impact
..... Click the link for more information.
Organization: USSR
Mission type: Lander
[ edit]

The Mars program was a series of Mars unmanned landers and orbiters launched by the Soviet Union in the early 1970s.
..... Click the link for more information.
Organization: NASA
Mission type: Flyby
[ edit]

As part of the wider Mariner program, in 1969 Mariner 6 and Mariner 7 ( Mariner Mars 69A / 69B) completed the first dual mission to Mars, flying over the equator and south polar regions and analysing
..... Click the link for more information.
Infrared (IR) radiation is electromagnetic radiation of a wavelength longer than that of visible light, but shorter than that of radio waves. The name means "below red" (from the Latin infra, "below"), red being the color of visible light with the longest wavelength.
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A radiometer is a device used to measure the radiant flux or power in electromagnetic radiation. Although the term is perhaps most generally applied to a device which measures infrared radiation, it can also be applied to detectors operating any wavelength in the electromagnetic
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Volcano:
1. Large magma chamber
2. Bedrock
3. Conduit (pipe)
4. Base
5. Sill
6. Branch pipe
7. Layers of ash emitted by the volcano
8. Flank 9. Layers of lava emitted by the volcano
10. Throat
11. Parasitic cone
12. Lava flow
13. Vent
14.
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spacecraft is a vehicle or device designed for spaceflight. On a sub-orbital spaceflight, a spacecraft enters outer space but then returns to the planetary surface (such as Earth) without making a complete orbit.
..... Click the link for more information.
ORBit is a CORBA compliant Object Request Broker (ORB). The current version is called ORBit2 and is compliant with CORBA version 2.4. It is developed under the GPL license and is used as middleware for the GNOME project.
..... Click the link for more information.
planet, as defined by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), is a celestial body orbiting a star or stellar remnant that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity, not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion in its core, and has cleared its neighbouring region of
..... Click the link for more information.
Organization: NASA
Mission type: Flyby
[ edit]

As part of the wider Mariner program, in 1969 Mariner 6 and Mariner 7 ( Mariner Mars 69A / 69B) completed the first dual mission to Mars, flying over the equator and south polar regions and analysing
..... Click the link for more information.
Mars  

Mars as seen by the Hubble Space Telescope
Orbital characteristics
Epoch J2000<ref name="nssdc" />
Aphelion distance: 249,228,730 km
1.66599116 AU
Perihelion distance: 206,644,545 km
1.
..... Click the link for more information.
atmosphere is a layer of gases that may surround a material body of sufficient mass.[1] The gases are attracted by the gravity of the body, and are retained for a longer duration if gravity is high and the atmosphere's temperature is low.
..... Click the link for more information.
Dust is a general name for minute solid particles with diameters less than 500 micrometers. On Earth, dust occurs in the atmosphere from various sources; soil dust lifted up by wind, volcanic eruptions, and pollution are some examples.
..... Click the link for more information.
river is a natural waterway that transits water through a landscape from higher to lower elevations. It is an integral component of the water cycle. The water within a river is generally collected from precipitation through surface runoff, groundwater recharge (as seen at baseflow
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impact crater can be applied to any depression, natural or manmade, resulting from the high velocity impact of a projectile with larger body. In most common usage, the term is used for the approximately circular depression in the surface of a planet, moon or other solid body in the
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Volcano:
1. Large magma chamber
2. Bedrock
3. Conduit (pipe)
4. Base
5. Sill
6. Branch pipe
7. Layers of ash emitted by the volcano
8. Flank 9. Layers of lava emitted by the volcano
10. Throat
11. Parasitic cone
12. Lava flow
13. Vent
14.
..... Click the link for more information.
Olympus Mons

Location
Peak 27km MSL
Discoverer Mariner 9
Naming Latin - Mount Olympus Olympus Mons (Latin, "Mount Olympus") is the tallest known volcano and mountain in our solar system.
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Solar System or solar system[a] consists of the Sun and the other celestial objects gravitationally bound to it: the eight planets, their 166 known moons,[1]
..... Click the link for more information.
canyon (rarely cañon) or gorge is a deep valley between cliffs often carved from the landscape by a river. Most canyons were formed by a process of long-time erosion from a plateau level.
..... Click the link for more information.
Valles Marineris (Latin for Mariner Valleys, named after the Mariner 9 Mars orbiter of 1971-72 which discovered it) is a vast canyon system that runs along the Martian equator just east of the Tharsis region.
..... Click the link for more information.


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