Mariner 3
Mission type | Mars flyby |
---|---|
Operator | NASA / JPL |
COSPAR ID | 1964-073A |
SATCAT no. | 923 |
Mission duration | Launch failure |
Spacecraft properties | |
Manufacturer | Jet Propulsion Laboratory |
Launch mass | 260.8 kilograms (575 lb) |
Power | 300 watts (at Mars encounter) |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | November 5, 1964, 19:22:05 | UTC
Rocket | LC-13 |
Orbital parameters | |
Reference system | Heliocentric |
Mariner 3 (together with Mariner 4 known as Mariner-Mars 1964) was one of two identical deep-space probes designed and built by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) for NASA's Mariner-Mars 1964 project that were intended to conduct close-up (flyby) scientific observations of the planet Mars and transmit information on interplanetary space and the space surrounding Mars, televised images of the Martian surface and radio occultation data of spacecraft signals as affected by the Martian atmosphere back to Earth.[1][2]
Although the launch was initially successful, there was a separation issue and Mariner 3 stopped responding when its batteries ran out of power. It was the third of ten spacecraft within the Mariner program.
Background
Mariner 2 had been a modified Ranger lunar probe, however Mariner 3 used a new, larger bus with four solar panels, a TV camera, and additional instrumentation. Because of the greater mass, the new Agena D stage would be used instead of the Agena B. Mariner 3 also utilized a new, larger fiberglass payload fairing. Of the two Atlas-Agena pads at Cape Canaveral, LC-13 became available first following the launch of an Air Force Vela satellite in July 1964. Atlas vehicle 289D was erected on the pad on August 17, with the backup Mariner probe and booster (Atlas 288D) erected on LC-12 on September 28.
Launch failure
Mariner 3 was launched at 2:22 PM EST on November 5, 1964, from
Three weeks later, on November 28, 1964, Mariner 4 was launched successfully on a 7½-month voyage to Mars.
Instruments
The instruments on Mariner 3 included:[5]
- Television camera
- Magnetometer
- Plasma probe
- Cosmic ray telescope
- Trapped radiationdetector
- Cosmic ray ionization chamber
- Cosmic dust detector
See also
- Exploration of Mars
- List of missions to Mars
- Robotic spacecraft
- Space exploration
References
- ^ "Mariner Mars 1964 Mechanical Configuration" (PDF). NASA Technical Reports Server. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 9, 2022. Retrieved December 29, 2011.
- ^ Douglas, D. W. (August 17, 1964). "Spaceflight Operations Plan Mariner Mars '64" (PDF). NASA Technical Reports Server. Retrieved December 29, 2011.
- ^ "Launch Complex 13". Archived from the original on October 10, 2018. Retrieved August 27, 2012.
- ^
Pyle, Rod (2012). Destination Mars. ISBN 978-1-61614-589-7.
Mariner 3, dead and still ensnared in its faulty launch shroud, in a large orbit around the sun.
- ^ JPL Technical Memorandum No. 33-229, To Mars: The Odyssey of Mariner IV (PDF) (Report). Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology, NASA. January 1, 1965. pp. 21–23. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 13, 2022. Retrieved November 3, 2012.
External links
- Mariner 3 Mission Profile by NASA's Solar System Exploration
- Space Flight Operations Plan Mariner Mars '64 (PDF)