Half-Century Anniversary of a Mars Mishap

November 5th marks the 50th anniversary of the launch of Mariner 3, America’s first mission to Mars, which was lost in space. Steve Mirsky reports. November 5, 2014 | and |

In recent days, both the and the had catastrophic failures. Because space is a very risky business. And it always has been. November 5th marks the 50th anniversary of the launch of Mariner 3, America’s first mission to Mars. But don't expect any NASA celebrations. The mission completely.

When Mariner 3 reached space, it was supposed to unfurl solar panels. But a glitch kept the panels tucked away. With only battery power, the spacecraft went dead just 8 hours and 43 minutes later. So Mariner 3 fell silent, although it presumably did fly past the red planet months later.

Fortunately, NASA had an identical spacecraft ready for Mars. After hasty modifications to prevent the same problem, Mariner 4 blasted off on November 28th, 1964. The following July, it became the first ship to fly past our planetary neighbor—that we’re sure of.

—written by , voiced by Steve Mirsky

[]