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PIA14032: First TV Image of Mars
This is an enhanced contrast version of the first Mars photograph released on July 15, 1965. This is man's first close-up photograph of another planet, a photographic representation of digital data radioed from Mars by the Mariner 4 spacecraft.
 Target Name:  Mars
 Mission:  Mariner Mars 1964 (Mariner 4) 
 Spacecraft:  Mariner 4
 Product Size:  1209 x 1280 pixels (w x h) 
 Produced By:  JPL 
 Producer ID:  P4996  
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA14032.tif (1.549 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA14032.jpg (260.9 kB)  

Click on the image above to download a moderately sized image in JPEG format (possibly reduced in size from original)

Original Caption Released with Image:

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PIA14032 Hand Colored VersionMariner 4 Tape Recorder
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This archival image is an enhanced contrast version of the first Mars photograph released on July 15, 1965. This is man's first close-up photograph of another planet -- a photographic representation of digital data radioed from Mars by the Mariner 4 spacecraft. Data was either sent to Earth immediately for acquisition or stored on an onboard tape recorder for later transmission.

Mariner, launched on November 28, 1964, photographed Mars beginning at 5:18:33 P.M. PDT, July 14, 1965, at a distance of about 10,500 miles. Closest approach of about 9,846 kilometers (6,118 miles) from the planet occurred at 6:01 P.M.

The spacecraft carried a television camera and six other science instruments to study the Martian atmosphere and surface. The 22 photographs taken by Mariner revealed the existence of lunar type craters upon a desert-like surface. After completing its mission, Mariner 4 continued past Mars to the far side of the Sun. On December 20, 1967, all operations of the spacecraft were ended.

For more information about this story see www.directedplay.com/first-tv-image-of-mars.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, managed the Mariner 4 mission for NASA, Washington, D.C.

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL-Caltech/Dan Goods

Image Addition Date:
2011-04-12