mariner mars 69 approach and near encounter sequence of events press kit

8/8/2019 Mariner Mars 69 Approach and Near Encounter Sequence of Events Press Kit

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P&g --/,I/3NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTIATION TELS WO i-4155

WASHINGTON,L .C. 20546 WO 3-6925FOR RELEASE. FRADAY P.M.July 18, 1969

RELEASE NO: 69-26A

PROJECT: MARINER MARS '69P(Approach nd Near EncounterSequence of Events)E contents


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Al k:NATIONAL AEEONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION (202) 962-4155NEWS til IW A S H I N G T O N , D .C . 20546 TET,: (202) 963-6925FOR RELEASE: FRIDAY P.M.July 18, l9*-,9RELEASE NO: 69-2'6A

NOTE TO EDTTORS:

The Mariner 6 and Mariner 7 spacecraft will completetheirs multi-million-mile flights to Mars on the nights ofJuly 30 and August 4, respectively.


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* Because the Space Flignt Operatiomns Facilityat JPL wJill be the command and data centerfor the Mariner actlvities and the vein KarmanAuditorium at JPL wil l be th e informctioncenter, all times in this press ki.t v.pkue-ment will be stated in PDT__CalifornLa time.


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1 W 5 l NAIIOrAL AERONAJ1!CS r-,A'-tCDbflMitS(RATION (202) (f2-4)1`,5W sA.HlCiOt 4 rv 2%4.c. . (?2) )63-6925FOR RELE(USE:

F sAI~li.; P/pr1fl. I" l.ApTG IAA ~s.lb... fiai l iicxe.L G alnd Mor]),< / .:v '' c 2 1 pa.t Mars

0(n the iiiqllts ()J Joly 30 and Awu(j't 1ec 4oly.i'i ofcI ofosI'. .- pprdj(i J. flA. estimat-,n at J(; 1Y }, r ' DU, Ju . ; .3 fMa: in:.r 6 I (: 00 n m. PDT, M..'yrif. , .rL..ri ncr 7. A!t ituice


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-2-The rmission follows thc- 1964-65 flight to Mars by Mariner 4

and is a precursor to the 1971 and J973 Mars missions. Marjinejr 4was the only other spacecraft tc have photographed another planet.

in 197] two Mariner-class vehicles will orbit Mars forthree months, and in the 1973 mission, Project- Viking, twospacecraft will orbit Mars and detach landing craft to descendto and operate on the surface.

MNir.iner 3969 mission object ives are to study the surfacc.arid atmosphere of Mars to establish the basis for future experimentsin the search for extra-terrestrial life and to develop technology


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-3Cornpo.'-:Itionj of the lower atmos:phere anid possib~iy thi, stlrface-

of Mars will be determi ned frcm mnaa 1rric~nts :by an , infrarcd sp!c trornel r(IRS) The inst~rumcrit may be able to de-Lect Lhc.~resence of somuorganic molecules in atmo'-pheric concentrations as small as twoparts in onc--mi Ilion.

An occultation experitacent, in %whichthe Mariners disappearfrom Earth behind Mars and their radio signals pass~ through theMar tian at~wo.'~phore, wi] 1 yield. informa tion on a tzosphericpressures and densi ties.

Radio tracking data during encounter, as well asthroLghIout: the entire flight,


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-4-A new high-rate telemetry system--16,200 bits per second--

on the Mariners and the use of the 210-foot antenna at the GoldstoneSpace Communications Station in the Mojave Desert allows thetwo spacecraft to record and play back an enormous amount ofpicture data during the approach to Mars. In the standard mission,programmed into the on-board computer prior to launch, Mariner 6will take 50 approach pictures beginning 48 hours and 770,000miles from Mars and ending 7 hours and 112,000 miles from Mars.Mariner 7 will take 93 approach pictures beginning 72 hours


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-5-If buth Mariner 6 and Mariner 7 conduct the "standard

mission," it is possible to accquire as many as 143 far encounterTV pictures. The h~igh-rate telemetry system, the 210-foot antennaat Goldst:one and a microwave link betwecn Goldstone and the JetPropulsion Laboratory iin Pasadena, permits the real time displayof the pictures as they are played back from each spacecraft.

Approximately 12 h6Iurs of real time TV may be availablein fi.ve playback sc~:sions. Every f.ive minutes, a new picture--eachcontaining more than half-a-milli.on photo elements--is seen on


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At about 15 minutes before closest approach, the two TVcameras--shuttering alternately every 42 seconds--the YR radiometer,IR spectrometer and UV spectrometer will begin taking planetarydata, some of which is transmitted directly to Earth and all ofwhich is recorded on board the spacecraft. During near encounter,real--time transmission of data to Earth will be at the high-rate16,200 bits per second. It will include every seventh 'IV ictureelement fo r photometric measurements.

Receipt of the entire picture on Earth will occur


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POST- ENCOIJNTIEH PLJAYA CKPollowing occultation, the near encounter science data

recorded on two tape recordern--one analog, one digitJal--aboardeach Mariner is played back. Tho dilital recorder, whichstores only near encounter data, including TV, is played backat the normal science playback rate, 270 bits per second.About 19 hours after closest approach f'or Mariners 6 and 7,th e digital playback is interrupted for two playbacks of theanalog recorder


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MARINER 6LWIIINER 7 MARS ENCOUNT' R LOG

PACTP]C DAYLIGHT TTME (PD'T) EVENTMonda4y July 28, 1969

6:19 p.m. Ground comiaand, t ransmit ted from Colclutonn,turns on Mdriniur 6 science power arnd sut.trLgshutterincj TV Camera.

8:49 p.m. Mariner 6 scan platform is pointed aLt -llaruso that: Par Encounter Planet Sensor (PFP>iS)sees p1lanet an d begins tracki Hg Mars'center of brightness to kecep TV ctllnernpointed accurat:ely at Miars.

10:26 p.m. Mariner 6 takes first. of 33 far encounterpictures from a dis tance of 771,500 nillou.


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-9-PDT EVENT

Wednesday. July 3OL 1969 (con't)Start Mariner 6 near encounter sequence:43 p.m. with cooldown of infrared Spectrometer.

10:03 p.m. Mariner 6 begins recording data fromscience instruments--InfraredSpectromeLer, Ultraviolet Spectrometei-,Infrared Radiometer.

10:04 p.m. High and medium resolution TV cameraseach take 12 pictures with the mediumresolution pictures overlapping andhi~gl resolution coveringJ small areasithin the overlaps. lwenty-fourpictures are recorded in 17 minutes.


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-lo-PDT EVENTFriday. August 1, 1969

5:53 p.m. Transmit ground command to Mariner 7to turn on power for science instrumentsand start shuttering TV cameras.8:23 p.m. Mariner 7 science scan platform slews tofar encounter position.9:59 p.m. Mariner 7 takes M7-1, first of a totalof 93 far encounter pictures of Mars,34 of which are taken during thisfirst of three sequences. Durationof 34-picture sequence is 19 hours,48 minutes. A picture is taken each36 minutes. M7-1 is taken from aMars altitude of about 1,140,000 miles.


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-11-PDT EVENT

Monday, Aucust 4, (con't)6:08 p.m. Mariner 7 plays back final series offar encounter TV pictures, M7-69 toM7-93. Receipt of all 25 picturestakes 2 hours, 11 minutes.

8:19 p.m. End playback M7-399:25 p.m. Begin Mariner 7 near encounter withIRS cooldown.9:45 p.m. Start recording Mars science, including24 near encounter TV pictures (framesM7-94 to M7-117).


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MARS AS VIEWED BY MARINER CAMERAS IN FAR-ENCOUNTER SEQUENCES

I . 1 I' ' . iI "I - -i I _ _M6-1 771,500 mi. M6-17 612,400 mi. M6-33 453,350 mi.

M6-34 353,050 mi. M6-42 232,550 mi. M6-50 111, 950 mi.

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M7 - 1,140,7500 mi. M7-17 988,700 mi . M7-93 827,150 mi.

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mariner mars 69 approach and near encounter sequence of events press kit

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