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HT This Day: July 17, 1965 -- Mariner reveals desert, dark patches on Mars
The first close-range picture of Mars ever taken was shown on television to an incredulous American audience early this afternoon after scientists had successfully pieced together thousands of signals received from the Mariner spacecraft.
The first close-range picture of Mars ever taken was shown on television to an incredulous American audience early this afternoon after scientists had successfully pieced together thousands of signals received from the Mariner spacecraft.
The picture clearly showed an extensive light coloured area thought to be a desert-surrounded by darker areas and sprinkled by a few shadowy patches. It also showed the curve of a section of the planet against the sky.
Scientists estimated that it showed 10 to 15 times more detail than the best views through earthbound telescopes.
The picture was taken from a distance of 10,500 miles from Mars and covered a maximum diameter ‘ of about 200 miles of the planet’s surface. Subsequent pictures will be from nearer and are expected to be clearer.
More intensive work on the data comprising the pictures are also expected to improve their quality.
Exhausted but exultant project scientists at the jet propulsion laboratory in Pasadena California, called a news conference late at night to exhibit the first picture received from the Mariner, a spectacular breakthrough in and astronomy. They explained how 40,000 separate signals from the Mariner indicating the degree of brightness of particular points, in the image were fed into computers to arrive at the picture.
No life
The scientists appeared apo tic over the likelihood of fault in the camera causing a slight fog in the photographs. They also explained that no direct evidence bearing on the presence or absence of life on Mars was expected and that the Mariner was only paying the way for subsequent probes.
One tentative conclusion that was made from the data received however was that the planet’s atmosphere was less hostile to life than it could have been. Further data and another 20 pictures are expected to provide further information.
But whether such hard information is forthcoming or not, the fantastic feat of sending a spacecraft on an eight months owner way one... planet, nearly 250 m away, and then transmit the image back to earth is surely a milestone in human achievement.
