On Episode 169 of This Week In Space, Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik are joined by Rob Manning, JPL's Chief Engineer Emeritus, to look back at the Mariner 4 Mars mission 60 years later.
Six decades ago this week, the Mariner 4 probe sped past Mars, the first to succeed in this then-brash undertaking. The technology was unbelievably primitive, yet effective, sending back 22 low-resolution video frames of the Red Planet. On that day, the wee hours of July 15 at JPL in Pasadena, the Mars of the romantics died. What had long been viewed as a slightly colder, somewhat drier, near-twin of Earth ended up having just a trace of an atmosphere and looked more like the moon--bone dry and pummelled by craters.
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Space news of the week
- 50 years after a historic handshake in space, the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project's legacy still resonates
- 'Doghouse' days of summer — Boeing's Starliner won't fly again until 2026, and without astronauts aboard
- The largest Mars rock on Earth is up for auction in NYC — it could be yours for $4 million (or more)
- Biggest chunk of Mars on Earth! Take a tour at Sotheby's
- Mars Probes
- Five Ways Mariner 4 Changed Mars Exploration
- Hand-Colored Mars Photo from Mariner 4
- John Casani, Former Manager of Multiple NASA Missions, Dies
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About This Week In Space
This Week in Space covers the new space age. Every Friday we take a deep dive into a fascinating topic. What's happening with the new race to the moon and other planets? When will SpaceX really send people to Mars?
Join Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik from Space.com as they tackle those questions and more each week on Friday afternoons. You can subscribe today on your favorite podcatcher.
