Editing Mariner program (section)

==Mariners 8 and 9==
{{Main|Mariner 8|Mariner 9}}
[[Image:Mariner09.jpg|150px|thumb|Mariner 9]]

[[Mariner 8]] and [[Mariner 9]] were identical sister craft designed to map the Martian surface simultaneously, but Mariner 8 was lost in a launch vehicle failure. Mariner 9 was launched in May 1971 and became the first artificial satellite of Mars. Its launch mass was nearly doubled by the onboard rocket propellant needed to thrust it into orbit around Mars, but otherwise it closely resembled its predecessors.<ref name="NASA"/> It entered Martian orbit in November 1971 and began photographing the surface and analyzing the atmosphere with its infrared and ultraviolet instruments.

Since 1969, Mariner spacecraft operations such as science sequencing and pointing had been programmable, using simple flight computers with limited memory, and the spacecraft used a digital tape-recorder rather than film to store images and other science data.  The spacecraft was thus able to wait until the storm abated, the dust settled and the surface was clearly visible before compiling its global mosaic of high-quality images of the surface of Mars.<ref name="NASA"/>

It also provided the first closeup pictures of Mars’ two small, irregular moons, Phobos and Deimos.<ref name="NASA"/>
* Mission: orbit Mars
* Mass 998&nbsp;kg (2,200&nbsp;lb)
* Sensors: wide- and narrow-angle cameras with digital tape recorder, infrared spectrometer and radiometer, ultraviolet spectrometer, radio occultation and celestial mechanics
Status:
* Mariner 8 – Destroyed in a launch vehicle failure.
* Mariner 9 – Shut off, in Areocentric (Mars) orbit until at least 2022 when it was projected to fall out of orbit and into the Martian atmosphere.<ref>[http://www.nasa.gov/offices/oce/appel/ask-academy/issues/volume4/ata_4-9_mariner_9_prt.htm NASA – This Month in NASA History: Mariner 9] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130514043808/http://www.nasa.gov/offices/oce/appel/ask-academy/issues/volume4/ata_4-9_mariner_9_prt.htm |date=May 14, 2013 }}, November 29, 2011 – Vol. 4, Issue 9</ref>