Mariner 4

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to navigationJump to search

Mariner 4

The Mariner 3 or 4 spacecraft, which were identical

Mission type Mars flyby

Operator NASA / JPL

COSPAR ID 1964-077A

SATCAT no. 942

Mission duration 3 years, 23 days

Spacecraft properties

Manufacturer Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Launch mass 260.8 kilograms (575 lb)

Power 310 watts (at Mars encounter)

Start of mission

Launch date November 28, 1964, 14:22:01 UTC

Rocket Atlas LV-3 Agena-D

Launch site Cape Canaveral LC-12

End of mission

Last contact December 21, 1967

Orbital parameters

Reference system Heliocentric

Semi-major axis 199,591,220 kilometers (124,020,230 mi)

Eccentricity 0.17322[1]

Perihelion altitude 166,052,670 kilometers (103,180,350 mi)[1]

Aphelion altitude 234,867,290 kilometers (145,939,770 mi)[1]

Inclination 2.544 degrees[1]

Period 567.11 days[1]

Epoch July 14, 1965, 21:00:57 UTC[1]

Flyby of Mars

Closest approach July 15, 1965, 01:00:57 UTC

Distance 9,846 kilometers (6,118 miles)

Instruments

Cosmic dust detector

Cosmic ray telescope

 Geiger counter/ionization chamber

Helium magnetometer

Solar plasma probe

Trapped radiation detector

TV camera

Mariner 4 (together with Mariner 3 known as Mariner-Mars 1964) was the fourth in a

series of spacecraft intended for planetary exploration in a flyby mode. It was designed
to conduct closeup scientific observations of Mars and to transmit these observations
to Earth. Launched on November 28, 1964,[2] Mariner 4 performed the first
successful flyby of the planet Mars, returning the first close-up pictures of the Martian
surface. It captured the first images of another planet ever returned from deep space;
their depiction of a cratered, seemingly dead world largely changed the scientific
community's view of life on Mars.[3][4] Other mission objectives were to perform field and
particle measurements in interplanetary space in the vicinity of Mars and to provide
experience in and knowledge of the engineering capabilities for interplanetary flights of
long duration. On December 21, 1967, communications with Mariner 4 were terminated.

Contents

 1Spacecraft and subsystems

 2Mission profile
o 2.1Launch
o 2.2Lock on Canopus
o 2.3Midcourse maneuver
o 2.4Data transmission rate reduced
o 2.5Mars flyby
o 2.6First image hand drawn
o 2.7Micrometeoroid hits and end of communications
 3Results
 4See also
 5References
 6External links

Spacecraft and subsystems[edit]

The Mariner 4 spacecraft consisted of an octagonal magnesium frame, 127 cm across a
diagonal and 45.7 cm high. Four solar panels were attached to the top of the frame with
an end-to-end span of 6.88 meters, including solar pressure vanes which extended from
the ends. A 104.1 cm x 66.0 cm   elliptical high-gain parabolic antenna was mounted at
the top of the frame as well. An omnidirectional low-gain antenna was mounted on a
seven-foot, four inch (223.5 cm) tall mast next to the high-gain antenna. The overall
height of the spacecraft was 2.89 meters. The octagonal frame housed the electronic
equipment, cabling, midcourse propulsion system, and attitude control gas supplies and
regulators.[5]
The scientific instruments included:[6][7][8]

 A helium magnetometer, mounted on the waveguide leading to the

omnidirectional antenna, to measure the magnitude and other characteristics
of the interplanetary and planetary magnetic fields.
 An ionization chamber/Geiger counter, mounted on the waveguide leading to
the omnidirectional antenna nearer the body of the spacecraft, to measure
the charged-particle intensity and distribution in interplanetary space and in
the vicinity of Mars.
 A trapped radiation detector, mounted on the body with counter-axes pointing
70° and 135° from the solar direction, to measure the intensity and direction
of low-energy particles.
 A cosmic ray telescope, mounted inside the body pointing in anti-solar
direction, to measure the direction and energy spectrum of protons and alpha
particles.
 A solar plasma probe, mounted on the body pointing 10° from the solar
direction, to measure the very low energy charged particle flux from the Sun.
 A cosmic dust detector, mounted on the body with microphone plate
approximately perpendicular to the plane of orbit, to measure the momentum,
distribution, density, and direction of cosmic dust.
 A television camera, mounted on a scan platform at the bottom center of the
spacecraft, to obtain closeup pictures of the surface of Mars. This subsystem
consisted of 4 parts, a Cassegrain telescope with a 1.05° by 1.05° field of
view, a shutter and red/green filter assembly with 0.08s and 0.20s exposure
times, a slow scan vidicon tube which translated the optical image into an
electrical video signal, and the electronic systems required to convert the
analogue signal into a digital bitstream for transmission. [9]

Mariner 4 is prepared for a weight test on November 1, 1963

The electric power for the instruments and the radio transmitter of Mariner 4 was
supplied by 28,224 solar cells contained in the four 176 x 90 cm solar panels, which
could provide 310 watts at the distance of Mars. A rechargeable 1200 W·h silver-zinc
battery was also used for maneuvers and backup. Monopropellant hydrazine was used
for propulsion, via a four-jet vane vector control motor, with 222-newton (50 lbf) thrust,
installed on one of the sides of the octagonal structure. The space probe's attitude
control was provided by 12 cold nitrogen gas jets mounted on the ends of the solar
panels and three gyros. Solar pressure vanes, each with an area of 0.65 square meter
(seven ft²), were attached to the tips of the solar panels. Positional information was
provided by four Sun sensors, and a sensor for either the Earth, Mars, or the
star Canopus, depending on the time in its spaceflight. Mariner 4 was the first space
probe that needed a star for a navigational reference object, since earlier missions,
which remained near either the Earth, the Moon, or the planet Venus, had sighted onto
either the bright face of the home planet or the brightly lit target. During this flight, both
the Earth and Mars would be too dim to lock onto. Another bright source at a wide angle
away from the Sun was needed and Canopus filled this requirement. [6] Subsequently,
Canopus was used as a reference point in many following missions. [10]
The telecommunications equipment on Mariner 4 consisted of dual S-band transmitters
(with either a seven-watt triode cavity amplifier or a ten watt traveling-wave
tube amplifier) and a single radio receiver which together could send and receive data
via the low- and high-gain antennas at 8⅓ or 33⅓ bits per second. Data could also be
stored onto a magnetic tape recorder with a capacity of 5.24 million bits for later
transmission. All electronic operations were controlled by a command subsystem which
could process any of 29 direct command words or three quantitative word commands
for mid-course maneuvers. The central computer and sequencer operated stored time-
sequence commands using a 38.4 kHz synchronization frequency as a time reference.
Temperature control was achieved through the use of adjustable louvers mounted on
six of the electronics assemblies, plus multilayer insulating blankets, polished aluminum
shields, and surface treatments. Other measurements that could be made included:

 Radio occultation
 Celestial mechanics based on precision tracking

Mission profile[edit]
Launch of Mariner 4

Launch[edit]
This section needs additional citations for verification. Please
help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources.
Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
Find sources: "Mariner 4" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (July
2019) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

After Mariner 3 was a total loss due to failure of the payload shroud to jettison, JPL
engineers suggested that there had been a malfunction caused during separation of the
metal fairing exterior from the fiberglass inner lining due to pressure differences
between the inner and outer part of the shroud and that this could have caused the
spring-loaded separation mechanism to become tangled and fail to detach properly. [citation
needed]

Testing at JPL confirmed this failure mode and an effort was made to develop a new,
all-metal fairing. The downside of this was that the new fairing would be significantly
heavier and reduce the Atlas-Agena's lift capacity. Convair and Lockheed-Martin had to
make several performance enhancements to the booster to wring more power out of it.
Despite fears that the work could not be completed before the 1964 Mars window
closed, the new shroud was ready by November.[citation needed]
After launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 12,[11] the
protective shroud covering Mariner 4 was jettisoned and the Agena-D/Mariner 4
combination separated from the Atlas-D booster at 14:27:23 UTC on November 28,
1964. The Agena's first burn took place from 14:28:14 to 14:30:38. The initial burn put
the spacecraft into an Earth parking orbit and the second burn from 15:02:53 to
15:04:28 injected the craft into a Mars transfer orbit. Mariner 4 separated from the
Agena at 15:07:09 and began cruise mode operations. The solar panels deployed and
the scan platform was unlatched at 15:15:00. Sun acquisition occurred 16 minutes later.
[citation needed]

Lock on Canopus[edit]
After Sun acquisition, the Canopus star tracker went searching for Canopus. The star
tracker was set to respond to any object more than one-eighth as, and less than eight
times as bright as Canopus. Including Canopus, there were seven such objects visible
to the sensor. It took more than a day of "star-hopping" to find Canopus, as the sensor
locked on to other stars instead:[6] a stray light pattern from the near
Earth, Alderamin, Regulus, Naos, and Gamma Velorum were acquired before Canopus.
[3][10]

A consistent problem that plagued the spacecraft during the early portion of its mission
was that roll error signal transients would occur frequently and on occasion would cause
loss of the Canopus star lock. The first attempt at a midcourse maneuver was aborted
by a loss of lock shortly after the gyros began spinup. Canopus lock was lost six times
within a period of less than three weeks after launch and each time a sequence of radio
commands would be required to reacquire the star. After a study of the problem, the
investigators concluded that the behavior was due to small dust particles that were
being released from the spacecraft by some means and were drifting through the star
sensor field-of-view. Sunlight scattered from the particles then appeared as illumination
equivalent to that from a bright star. This would cause a roll error transient as the object
passed through the field-of-view while the sensor was locked onto Canopus. When the
object was bright enough that it exceeded the high gate limits at eight times the
Canopus intensity, the spacecraft would automatically disacquire Canopus and initiate a
roll search for a new star. Finally, a radio command was sent on December 17, 1964,
that removed the high gate limit. There was no further loss of Canopus lock, although
roll transients occurred 38 more times before encounter with Mars. [6][10]
Midcourse maneuver[edit]
The 7½ month flight of Mariner 4 involved one midcourse maneuver on December 5,
1964. The maneuver was initially scheduled for December 4, but due to a loss of lock
with Canopus, it was postponed. The maneuver was successfully completed on
December 5; it consisted of a negative pitch turn of 39.16 degrees, a positive roll turn of
156.08 degrees, and a thrusting time of 20.07 seconds. The turns aimed the motor of
the spacecraft back in the general direction of Earth, as the motor was initially pointed
along the direction of flight. Both the pitch and roll changes were completed with better
than 1% accuracy, the velocity change with about 2.5% accuracy. After the maneuver,
Mariner 4 was on course for Mars as planned.[6]
Data transmission rate reduced[edit]
On January 5, 1965, 36 days after launch and 10,261,173 km from Earth, Mariner 4
reduced its rate of transmission of scientific data from 33 1/3 to 8 1/2 bits per second.
This was the first autonomous action the spacecraft had taken since the midcourse
maneuver.[12]
Mars flyby[edit]
The Mariner 4 spacecraft flew by Mars on July 14 and 15, 1965. Its closest approach
was 9,846 km from the Martian surface at 01:00:57 UT July 15, 1965 (8:00:57 p.m. EST
July 14), its distance to Earth was 216 million km, its speed was 7 km/s relative to Mars,
1.7 km/s relative to Earth.[citation needed]
Planetary science mode was turned on at 15:41:49 UT on July 14. The camera
sequence started at 00:18:36 UT on July 15 (7:18:49 p.m. EST on July 14) and 21
pictures using alternate red and green filters, plus 21 lines of a 22nd picture were taken.
The images covered a discontinuous swath of Mars starting near 40° N, 170° E, down
to about 35° S, 200° E, and then across to the terminator at 50° S, 255° E, representing
about 1% of the planet's surface. The images taken during the flyby were stored in the
on-board tape recorder. At 02:19:11 UT, Mariner 4 passed behind Mars as seen from
Earth and the radio signal ceased. The signal was reacquired at 03:13:04 UT when the
spacecraft reappeared. Cruise mode was then re-established. Transmission of the
taped images to Earth began about 8.5 hours after signal reacquisition and continued
until August 3. All images were transmitted twice to ensure no data was missing or
corrupt.[2] Each individual photograph took approximately six hours to be transmitted
back to Earth.[13]
The spacecraft performed all programmed activities successfully and returned useful
data from launch until 22:05:07 UT on October 1, 1965, when the long distance to Earth
(309.2 million km) and the imprecise antenna orientation led to a temporary loss of
communication with the spacecraft until 1967. [2]
First image hand drawn[edit]

Mariner 4 tape recorder

The on-board tape recorder used on Mariner 4 was a spare, not originally intended for
the Mariner 4 flight. Between the failure of Mariner 3, the fact that the Mariner 4 recorder
was a spare, and some error readings suggesting an issue with the tape-recorder, it
was determined that the team would test the camera function definitively. This
eventually led to the first digital image being hand-drawn. While waiting for the image
data to be computer processed, the team used a pastel set from an art supply store to
hand-color (paint-by-numbers style) a numerical printout of the raw pixels. The resulting
image provided early verification that the camera was functioning. The hand-drawn
image compared favorably with the processed image when it became available. [14]
 

The first digital image from Mars hand-colored like a paint-by-numbers picture
 

Processed first digital image from Mars