It
was on this date in 1969 that the Mariner 7 space probe made its
close flyby of Mars. Needless to say, fresh off of the Apollo 11
euphoria (the astronauts were still in quarantine), this mission was
almost an afterthought at the time despite the fact that the mission
was groundbreaking in itself. Flown in conjunction with Mariner 6,
the twin space probes would photograph over 20% of the Martian
surface, providing a far more complete picture of the Martian surface
than did Mariner 4, which returned just two dozen tantalizing
pictures of Mars in 1965. Additionally, both probes carried
instruments that were vital in studying the composition of the
Martian atmosphere and paving the way for future missions to the Red
Planet.
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