UMSF space history photo of the month Options

[Guest_PhilCo126_*]

Maybe we could make this a monthly item, in which we could look back at the history of Unmanned Space missions.
For January 2008 I've chosen an image showing the coverage of the Sun by early Pioneer 5-8 spacecraft.
Pioneer 5 to 8, or Pioneer V to VIII using the system of Roman numerals in vogue during the early 1960s for spacecraft designations, were directed towards the Sun along the earth's orbit to monitor solar activity. Pioneer V was launched on 11th March 1960 and provided the very first space weather report 4 to 8 hours before a solar storm hit the Earth.
Some of this Pioneer quartet, Pioneer 6-7-8 even provided updates on our Sun's activity during the early Apollo Moon landings in order to check the damaging potential of solar flares to affect the astronauts.

[Guest_PhilCo126_*]

1971: Mariner IX to Mars
The 998 kg (launch weight) (565 kg in orbit) Mariner IX was launched to the red planet Mars on 30th May 1971 and reached the planet on 13th November 1971 becoming the first spacecraft to orbit another planet! Mariner 9’s arrival in orbit was greeted by a planet-wide duststorm, but the orbiter sat out the storm and started to map the planet. In January 1972, the first sections of the 4000 km long & 100 km wide Vallis Marineris rift valley were photographed. The ‘discovery’ of these geological features transformed our view of Mars and scientists regained a strong intrest for the red planet as it could be the place that once harboured life. Mariner 9 performed 698 revolutions during 350 Earth days of operation. After 7330 photos, the mission was over and Mariner 9’s orbit was believed to be stable for half a century, satisfying international planetary quarantine requirements…