Mariner 6 & 7 Post-Mars encounter Options

[gndonald]

I know that Mariner 6 & 7 were tracked for a considerable period after the Mars encounter and that some additional (engineering related?) imagery was taken.

However this is a period that does not get covered in the more general discussions I've read of the mission which effectively end after the Mars encounter.

Does anyone know just how long contact was maintained and if those post encounter images are available in some form?

[Guest_Zvezdichko_*]

I can't find anywhere detailed information about the cameras of Mariner 4/6/7... Are they phototelevision ones/like Zufar?

[gndonald]

I can't find anywhere detailed information about the cameras of Mariner 4/6/7... Are they phototelevision ones/like Zufar?

I've been doing some hunting on the NTRS to see if I could find answers, and I think I may have answers to both the question in the OP and this one.

According to the Mars '69 Press kit (Link) both cameras were photo-television units, one camera ('A') was essentially the same as the Mariner 4 camera aside from being fitted with a wide-angle lens. The second camera ('B') was the narrow angle unit, but it's not clear if it was otherwise identical to the 'A' camera.

The other document I found is volume 3 of the JPL tracking report (Link), which covers the extended mission. It would look like last contact with Mariner 6 was around the 21st of December 1970, with the last contact of Mariner 7 being around 28th December 1970 at which point it had run out of attitude control fuel (They are the last dates mentioned).

No mention of imaging is made but there is reference to a final engineering experiment involving firing the course correction motor and using the UV spectrometer to study the exhaust plume, it's not clear from the document if this was done with both spacecraft or just Mariner 6.