🇺🇸
Agency
NASA
Country
🇺🇸 USA
Launched
1971-05-30
End Date
1972-10-27
Mass
558 kg
Instruments
6 instruments
Wide-angle and narrow-angle TV cameras, UV spectrometer, IR radiometer, IR interferometer spectrometer, celestial mechanics
Orbit
Elliptical, 1,387 × 17,144 km, 12-hour period
Mariner 9 revolutionised our understanding of Mars by returning 7,329 images and producing the first complete global map of the planet. It identified ancient river valleys and volcanic structures that defined decades of subsequent science priorities. The spacecraft was deactivated on October 27, 1972, after exhausting its attitude-control gas.
“Mariner 9 was the first spacecraft to orbit Mars, entering orbit on November 14, 1971. It returned 7,329 images of Mars.”