14 DAY TRIAL // 50 years ago, on July 15, 1965, NASA's Mariner 4 probe became the first spacecraft to fly by Mars and return images of the orb's surface. These were also the first pictures of another planet beamed back to Earth all the way from deep space.
True, these first views of the Martian surface were black and white, not to mention that they weren't all that clear, but they did make space exploration history.
The US space agency has since launched a total of 15 robotic missions to the Red Planet, some landers / rovers and others orbiters. Thanks to these missions, we now have a much clearer idea of what Mars looks like up close. We also know more about its chemical profile.
To mark the anniversary of the Mariner 4 probe's historic flyby of the Red Planet, NASA has produced a short video documenting its missions to Mars over these past few decades. The video, kind of like a time-lapse, is available below.
“2015 marks 50 years of successful NASA missions to Mars starting with Mariner 4 in 1965. Since then, a total of 15 robotic missions led by various NASA centers have laid the groundwork for future human missions to the Red Planet,” reads the video's description.
Come 2016, NASA hopes to land yet another probe on the surface of the Red Planet. A rover will follow in 2020. Then, sometime in the 2030s, the space agency plans to attempt a manned mission.
