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NASA Programs

Mariner Program

NASA’s early planetary flybys and the first spacecraft to orbit another planet.

Years 1962–1973File 13 / 20
NASA’s early planetary flybys and the first spacecraft to orbit another planet.
Mariner 9 views Canyon System emerging from Martian Dust Storm. Photo: NASA/JPL · NASA image PIA02998

Mariner probes opened Venus, Mars and Mercury to American planetary science. Mariner 2 flew past Venus in 1962—the first successful planetary encounter. Mariner 4 returned the first close-up photographs of Mars in 1965, showing a cratered, Moon-like surface that surprised many scientists.

Mariner 9 became the first spacecraft to orbit another planet when it arrived at Mars in 1971. It waited out a global dust storm, then mapped volcanoes, canyons and ancient riverbeds that reshaped ideas about the Red Planet. Mariner 10 flew past Venus and then Mercury three times in 1974–1975—the first mission to Mercury.

Mariner technology and mission design fed directly into Viking, Voyager and later planetary programs.

Milestones

  1. 1962-12-14Mariner 2 — First successful planetary flyby—Venus.
  2. 1965-07-15Mariner 4 — First close-up photographs of Mars.
  3. 1971-11-14Mariner 9 — First spacecraft to orbit another planet.
  4. 1974-03-29Mariner 10 — First spacecraft to fly past Mercury.

Summary original to flyARIA.com. Photograph: NASA/JPL. NASA images are generally not protected by copyright in the United States; credit does not imply endorsement.

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