Launch Success
Liftoff Time (GMT)
14:22:00
Saturday November 28, 1964
Watch Replay
Official Livestream
First spacecraft to reach the vicinity of Mars.
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, 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.
Heliocentric Orbit
1 Payload
261 kilograms

47th
Mission
15th
Mission of 1964
89th
Orbital launch attempt