Key dates:
- 11.05.64: Launch
- 11.06.64: End of Mars Mission
- Status: Ground control lost contact with the spacecraft, which eventually entered heliocentric orbit.
Scientific Instruments:
- imaging system
- cosmic dust detector
- cosmic-ray telescope
- ionization chamber
- magnetometer
- trapped radiation detector
- solar plasma probe
- occultation experiment
Mariner 3 Information:
In November of 1962, NASA authorized and began planning for two probes for the Mariner-Mars 1964 project. The mission was to photograph the Martian surface using a single TV camera that would be attached to a scan platform, returning up to 21 photographs during the eight month journey.
The first of the two probes, Mariner 3, launched in November of 1964, but the booster payload shroud failed to separate from the payload. In addition, less tha 9 hours after liftoff, battery power dropped to zero, which may explain why the spacecraft's solar panels apparently never unfurled to replenish the power supply. In the end, ground control lost contact with the spacecraft, which eventually entered heliocentric orbit.
A later investigation indicated that the shroud's inner fiberglass layer had separated from the shroud's outer skin, thus preventing jettisoning.