Description
It was more than one miracle. Tens of millions of miles from Earth, on four separate occasions, the scientific miracles known as Mariners 4, 6, 7, and 9 came to life. Three windmill-shaped robots had sped past Mars. In November 1971, Mariner 9 slipped into orbit about the red planet to give Man his most detailed look of the strange world which has so fascinated him through the ages. Electronic equipment measured the pulse, radiation, atmosphere, and other ?signatures? of Mars. Cameras recorded startling details, started beaming taped signals back to waiting antennas on Earth. Since 1965 we have been trying to strip away mystery. At this very moment the cameras of Mariner 9, and Russia?s Mars 2 and 3, continue to send back pictures jolting cherished beliefs about the fourth planet from the sun. Long-held theories are toppling like tenpins. Mars is proving to be almost entirely unlike what scientists had believed the planet to be. For the red planet is truly its own world with features never expected, and found nowhere on Earth or its Moon. New questions have replaced old arguments, and the new questions, when they are answered, may unlock the oldest secrets of our solar system.
