All was ready Wednesday (14 July) at ground stations for reception of the first close-up pictures ever taken of Mars.
All was ready Wednesday (14 July) at ground stations for reception of the first close-up pictures ever taken of Mars.If everything goes as scheduled, Mariner 4 will snap a number of pictures during a 25-minute fly by of the red planet Wednesday night.The pictures are expected to be transmitted back to Earth Thursday, developed and made public by Friday.
The pictures are unlikely to determine whether there is life on Mars, but they could add enormously to man's knowledge of the surface features of the planet.
Mars is so far away and so blurred as seen through the Earth's atmosphere that its surface features are difficult to chart.
Mariner 4 will pass within 7,000 miles of Mars, sending its signals back across 134 million miles of space, beginning at 8:41 a.m.New York time Thursday (15 July).