Mariner 8 & 9
Mariners 8 and 9 were designed to be the first Martian orbiter. We’ve been sending probes to Mars but the only thing that we were able to do was fly by the planet and take some surface pictures. The fly-by pictures did give us a glimpse of Mars and its surface but those weren’t enough for us to be able to study the geography, components, atmosphere, weather and other essential factors to determine whether there is life on Mars.
And so, the Mariners 8 and 9 came to the drawing board. They were to orbit the planet and take pictures so we can map out the red planet, understand its geography, as well study the Martian atmosphere with the use of the infrared and ultraviolet instruments aboard the Mariners.
Mariner 8’s scheduled lift off was May 8, 1971. Unfortunately, it failed during launch so the mission was an unfortunate failure that didn’t even…”fly”
Mariner 9 launched on May 30, 197. Since it was only days after Mariner 8’s launch failure, the launch day of Mariner 9 was very suspenseful and full intensity. Everybody was anxious, are we on the verge of throwing away millions of dollars again on this mission? or are we gonna see success? The launch was successful but everybody’s fingers remained crossed. Not until the Mariner 9 reaches Mars and achieved it orbit can we celebrate partial success.
On November 13, 1971, the Mariner 9 reached Mars and officially became the first artificial satellite to orbit
Phobos
Mars. A joyous and glorious day for the human race.
When the Mariner 9 arrived in Mars, the planet was covered with dust due to a dust storm. It lasted for month and only then the Mariner 9 was able to take pictures and feed them back to Earth where anxious scientists and the public were waiting.
Deimos
The Mariner 9 was able to map out the Martian surface 100% and took the first close up photos of Mars’ moons Phobos and Deimos. In total, the spacecraft took 7,329 photos of Mars and stayed in orbit for 349 days. Nearly a year after its arrival.
The mission cost a total of $137 million. A fraction of the cost of its successor Viking who nearly cost a billion dollars.