[X] My Assistant

[tasp]

Following the successful Mariner 4 encounter with Mars, the craft, on September 15, 1967 apparently encountered a meteor stream.

The craft recorded 17 strikes in only 15 minutes with (IIRC) it's cosmic dust detector. I am not sure any other instrument on the craft recorded the event.

Additionally, the craft had a small change in attitude and the internal temperature dropped roughly 1 degree as an apparent result of the damage to the thermal protection system.

Other than the ESA Halley mission, has any other craft experienced anything like this?

Was any ID of the meteor stream ever made? Perhaps it is associated with one we see on earth. I don't know if any of the new mission tracking software would be helpful in pinning down Mariner 4's position then. Also, I'm not sure if the small attitude change would help pin down a direction the the stream was moving in.


What an unusual event! Seems like something that might barely effect a relatively 'primitive' craft (no offense to the builders!) might be rather more drastic on a modern craft.

[tasp]

{Ahem, seriously folks, when I first started this thread, I had no idea anything investigation wise, was in the pipe line for this apparently not so minor mystery.}

{Go figure}