Mariner 3

Mariner 3

The Mariner 3 spacecraft
Mission type	Mars flyby
Operator	NASA / JPL
COSPAR ID	1964-073A
SATCAT №	923
Mission duration	Launch failure
Spacecraft properties
Manufacturer	Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Launch mass	260.8 kilograms (575 lb)
Power	300 watts (at Mars encounter)
Start of mission
Launch date	November 5, 1964, 19:22:05 (1964-11-05UTC19:22:05Z) UTC
Rocket	Atlas LV-3 Agena-D
Launch site	Cape Canaveral LC-13
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Heliocentric

Mariner 3 (together with Mariner 4 known as Mariner-Mars 1964) was one of two identical deep-space probes designed and built by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) for NASA's Mariner-Mars 1964 project that were intended to conduct close-up (flyby) scientific observations of the planet Mars and transmit information on interplanetary space and the space surrounding Mars, televised images of the Martian surface and radio occultation data of spacecraft signals as affected by the Martian atmosphere back to Earth. It was the third of ten spacecraft within the Mariner program.

Mariner 3 was launched on November 5, 1964 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 13, but the shroud encasing the spacecraft atop its rocket failed to open properly, and Mariner 3 did not get to Mars. Unable to collect the Sun's energy for power from its solar panels, the probe soon died when its batteries ran out and is now derelict in a solar orbit.

Three weeks later, on November 28, 1964, Mariner 4 was launched successfully on a 7½-month voyage to Mars.

Instruments

The instruments on Mariner 3 included:

1. Television camera
2. Magnetometer
3. Plasma probe
4. Cosmic ray telescope
5. Trapped radiation detector
6. Cosmic ray ionization chamber
7. Cosmic dust detector

See also

• Exploration of Mars
• Space exploration
• Robotic spacecraft

External links

• Mariner 3 Mission Profile by NASA's Solar System Exploration
• Space Flight Operations Plan Mariner Mars '64 (PDF)