Mariner+Probes

by Adam, Grade 5

A Mariner is a probe, which is a robot used to collect data in the galaxy. Probes are made by NASA, which is a group of scientists who help astronauts with their jobs. What I will talk about is how the probes were sent to Mars, Venus and Mercury by NASA in the 1960’s through the early 1970s.

The first mariner mission was to send two space probes to Venus. They were authorized by NASA in August, 1961. On July 22, 1962, the rocket that held Mariner 1 went off-course during the launch. A month later, Mariner 2 was successfully launched. On its way it collected solar wind, solar flares and cosmic rays.

Mariner 3 didn’t make it to Mars. Three weeks later, Mariner 4 was successful. Mariner 4 found a planet shaped like the moon. Scientists don’t know what it is. Mariner 5 launched to Venus in 1967. Mariner 9 was launched to Mars in May, 1971.

Two years after Mariner 9 orbited around Mars, the last Mariner took off on the first exploration of Mercury and Venus. Mariner 10 used a filter to produce the first clear pictures of Venus’ clouds.

The Mainer probes showed that size doesn’t matter. Even though they were small, they collected data that scientists didn’t know they could, not just from the planets, but from the galaxy. Scientists learned about the atmospheres of Mars and Venus. They also learned about the environment of the solar system from the Mariner probes.

Image source: