IPB

Welcome Guest ( Log In | Register )

 
Reply to this topicStart new topic
Mariner Mars 1971 ( First orbiter Mariner 9 )
Guest_PhilCo126_*
post Apr 27 2008, 03:32 PM
Post #1





Guests






The 998 kg Mariner 9 was launched on 30th May 1971 and arrived at the red planet on 14th November 1971 to become the first planetary orbiter:

Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
nprev
post Apr 27 2008, 10:27 PM
Post #2


Merciless Robot
****

Group: Admin
Posts: 8783
Joined: 8-December 05
From: Los Angeles
Member No.: 602



Mariner 9 was actually my first real induction into the world of UMSF. It wasn't a brief flyby with a few pics in AW&ST or Science very much after the fact...things kept coming.

Still remember waiting for the dust storm to settle, and what the hell were those dark spots in the Tharsis area? (Giant volcanoes, of course....duh! rolleyes.gif What did you think, what did you expect of a planet as dead as the Moon?)

Heady times indeed. Mariner 9 really disrupted conventional wisdom in so many ways. We learned that brief glimpses of a world never, ever paint the complete picture at all.


--------------------
A few will take this knowledge and use this power of a dream realized as a force for change, an impetus for further discovery to make less ancient dreams real.
Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
tedstryk
post Apr 28 2008, 01:08 AM
Post #3


Interplanetary Dumpster Diver
****

Group: Admin
Posts: 4404
Joined: 17-February 04
From: Powell, TN
Member No.: 33



Mariner-9 was the first planetary probe that reminds me of a modern mission to anything beyond the moon. It had a really high quality camera (although it had an afterimage problem that was solved on Mariner 10 and subsequent missions by use of a flashbulb) and returned thousands of images. Mariners 6 and 7 gave us our first taste but still has a relatively primitive feel.

Attached Image


--------------------
Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
Guest_PhilCo126_*
post Apr 28 2008, 03:57 PM
Post #4





Guests






Well, Mariner 9 will surely be remembered for its mapping of the red planet. Doing so, JPL produced 3 large 4-foot diameter photomosaic globes with the Mariner 9 pictures. The spacecraft circled Mars 698 times and returned about 7300 images!

Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
Guest_PhilCo126_*
post Apr 28 2008, 04:00 PM
Post #5





Guests






I've read somewhere that the orbit of Mariner 9 would not decay for at least 50 years, so it will be around 2030 when the spacecraft might enter the thin Martian atmosphere? (maybe to celebrate the first humans on Mars mission smile.gif )
Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
Decepticon
post Apr 28 2008, 04:42 PM
Post #6


Senior Member
****

Group: Members
Posts: 1276
Joined: 25-November 04
Member No.: 114



Phil do you have any more of those global images of mars being mapped?

Its funny how they did it back then! Do they even have those on display anymore?
Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
tedstryk
post Apr 28 2008, 04:47 PM
Post #7


Interplanetary Dumpster Diver
****

Group: Admin
Posts: 4404
Joined: 17-February 04
From: Powell, TN
Member No.: 33



QUOTE (Decepticon @ Apr 28 2008, 04:42 PM) *
Phil do you have any more of those global images of mars being mapped?

Its funny how they did it back then! Do they even have those on display anymore?


I seem to recall seeing one of the Mariner-9 globes at the Air and Space Museum in DC.


--------------------
Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
Guest_PhilCo126_*
post Apr 28 2008, 06:04 PM
Post #8





Guests






4 years ago I prepared a series of articles on the subject of " Mapping the planet Mars & its Moons "...
At JPL I asked about the Mariner 9 globes and they confirmed there's still one at JPL somewhere in a warehouse!
What a shame, I believe they should show it during the upcoming JPL Open House weekend of 03 & 04 May 2008 smile.gif

I have a lot of information about these globes and to summarize:
The task of planning & supervising the mosaicing of the 4-foot globes was assigned to Elmer Christensen, who designed the protractor to precisely locate the 1500 photographs on each globe.
Each Mariner 9 mapping image was produced in one of three projections: "Mercator" for the equatorial latitudes, 'Polar Stereographic' for the polar regions and 'Lambert' for the intermediate regions.
The first globe was re-photographed in 452 roughly rectangular segments, which allowed the construction of a 6-foot diameter globe for the von Karman auditorium of the JPL campus in pasadena CA.

Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
Guest_PhilCo126_*
post Apr 28 2008, 06:16 PM
Post #9





Guests






Just some additional information; the above photo shows Edwin Pounder and Elmer Christensen standing near a photo-mosaic globe. Note the features on the B&W globe!

Three great publications for those searching detailed information on the results of the 1971 Mariner IX mission:

Mars : Through the eyes of Mariner 9 - The Face of Mars
The Photomosaic Globe of Mars ( JPL-Caltech 1973 ) ( JPL 654 - 10-73 )
Journal of Geophysical Research (Planets) - Vol 78 N° 20 ( JGR 1973 )


Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
climber
post Apr 28 2008, 06:20 PM
Post #10


Senior Member
****

Group: Members
Posts: 2917
Joined: 14-February 06
From: Very close to the Pyrénées Mountains (France)
Member No.: 682



Great souvenirs to me too. I whish internet and UMSF had exist at that time since I was home for a full month (I was ill) rigth in time!
Mariner 9 was the first "real" probe to my eyes just before Pionneer 10...


--------------------
Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
nprev
post Apr 28 2008, 06:28 PM
Post #11


Merciless Robot
****

Group: Admin
Posts: 8783
Joined: 8-December 05
From: Los Angeles
Member No.: 602



Incredible. If I'm not mistaken, Mariner 9 represents the first time we'd ever mapped another world (not counting the Moon). What painstaking effort...


--------------------
A few will take this knowledge and use this power of a dream realized as a force for change, an impetus for further discovery to make less ancient dreams real.
Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
Guest_PhilCo126_*
post Apr 28 2008, 06:53 PM
Post #12





Guests






That's correct, Mars was the first "other world" - other than the Moon, mapped by a spacecraft !
Moreover during Mariner IX, NASA learned important lessons about the use of the Deep Space Network concerning tracking, telemetry and data processing. In those days, JPL set up a new structure for the Space Flight Operations Facility with new computers!
I'm keeping a few more photos for the UMSF space history photo of the month topic cool.gif
But do note the late Dr Carl Sagan on the right side of the 2nd photo (appreciate other IDs!):
Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
nprev
post Apr 28 2008, 08:35 PM
Post #13


Merciless Robot
****

Group: Admin
Posts: 8783
Joined: 8-December 05
From: Los Angeles
Member No.: 602



The first of dozens...then someday thousands...finally, millions...

We're going, I know it for sure. Don't know exactly when, but we're going. smile.gif


--------------------
A few will take this knowledge and use this power of a dream realized as a force for change, an impetus for further discovery to make less ancient dreams real.
Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
machi
post Dec 9 2011, 06:27 PM
Post #14


Member
***

Group: Members
Posts: 796
Joined: 27-February 08
From: Heart of Europe
Member No.: 4057



We have 40th anniversary of Mariner 9 orbiter, so I think, that this very successful mission deserve little reminder.
Here is morphed approach animation from 40 frames, which Mariner 9 photographed before orbit insertion from distance between 850 and 350 thousands km -
Youtube.

Original images covers 43 hours interval, animation is speed up 1200× (so one second is 20 minutes).

Mars was in that time (11.-12.11.1971) covered by global dust storm, so only some features from Martian surface were visible (massive volcanoes in Tharsis, Valles Marineris, Hellas and Argyre Planitia, etc.).


--------------------
Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
Mr Valiant
post Dec 10 2011, 02:19 AM
Post #15


Junior Member
**

Group: Members
Posts: 61
Joined: 20-March 10
From: Western Australia
Member No.: 5275



The colour looks to be spot on. Have only seen a few pics taken before retrofire. This sequence
puts you right onboard Mariner. Many thanks.
Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post

Reply to this topicStart new topic

 



RSS Lo-Fi Version Time is now: 19th March 2024 - 05:18 AM
RULES AND GUIDELINES
Please read the Forum Rules and Guidelines before posting.

IMAGE COPYRIGHT
Images posted on UnmannedSpaceflight.com may be copyrighted. Do not reproduce without permission. Read here for further information on space images and copyright.

OPINIONS AND MODERATION
Opinions expressed on UnmannedSpaceflight.com are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of UnmannedSpaceflight.com or The Planetary Society. The all-volunteer UnmannedSpaceflight.com moderation team is wholly independent of The Planetary Society. The Planetary Society has no influence over decisions made by the UnmannedSpaceflight.com moderators.
SUPPORT THE FORUM
Unmannedspaceflight.com is funded by the Planetary Society. Please consider supporting our work and many other projects by donating to the Society or becoming a member.