posted 09-08-2024 05:36 AM               

Space Cover 770: Mariner 4 — Where'd the canals go?

In today's world of constant updates from Mars rovers sending back evidence of water on Mars, maybe life in the past, and unique geology, let's go back 60 years. Back then, telescopic observations of Mars had shown a red planet that was crisscrossed by something that looked like canals. When Mariner 4 went on its' way to Mars, some folks expected to see canals with gondola boats containing Martians waving at Mariner 4 as it flew over. Some folks expected a dead desert world...

Well, as you can see from the cover above, postmarked at Pasadena, CA (home of the JPL Mission Control for Mariner 4) on July 14, 1965, when Mariner 4 passed by Mars, Mars looked like the latter – a lifeless, waterless, cratered desert like the Moon. Mariner 4 took 22 photos of Mars on its' pass that day, and they all reinforced that impression (see the NASA photo summary below – you can click on it to see a larger, more readable version). No canals, no waving Martians, just craters.

And with the later Mariners 6 and 7, then Mariner 9 probes, that impression was strengthened. It wasn't until the Viking probe landings in 1976 when that impression started to soften. And today with up-close rovers, Mars is starting to look quite a bit more interesting!

In researching this article, I found plenty of Mariner 4 launch covers (like the SpaceCraft Cachet below) and plenty of Mariner 4 photo-pass covers (like the cover at top).

One set of covers that I didn't find, were covers for the documented December 5. 1964 mid-course correction maneuver done by Mariner 4 enroute to Mars. But I did find one mid-course correction maneuver cover postmarked on March 15, 1965 (with an Astro-Cover Cachet) but have never seen any documentation of a correction maneuver being performed that day. Does anyone have a Mariner 4 December 5, 1964 mid-course correction cover? Or documentation of another mid-course correction maneuver on March 15, 1965?

Or any other favorite Mariner 4 covers? If so, let's post 'em!

posted 09-08-2024 06:49 AM               

I only have one cover for the Mariner 4 mission, the Sarzin cover below, which is my favourite out of the known launch covers from the usual suspects due to its visual educational appeal.

According to my logs I have bid on the Swanson cover you have shown a couple of times, but with no great enthusiasm as I had concentrated on other covers in those eBay auctions, so my basic starter was easily outbid both times.

But in October last year there was an intriguing cover that appeared on eBay, for sale by a vendor I use quite a lot. I grabbed a screenshot but when I've just searched for it I've got an image not available error message - so I can only give you a verbal description.

The cachet had the title Mariner 4 in large typescript with no other words. The image beneath showed what looked like a print of a 1920/30s type painting which had been hand coloured. It was basically two little green men in a boat on a waterway in a red sandy desert pointing up into a yellow sky.
I liked it very much and put in a highish initial bid of $15, which was winning at its starting price until a day before the close when somebody outbid me.

I was going to increase my bid quite considerably, but then noticed the postmark [my log says JPL, so Moffet Field or Pasadena or similar] on 5 December. My log states "wrong launch date!", and I didn't put in another bid.