Mariner 1 facts for kids
Launch of Mariner 1
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| Mission type | Venus flyby |
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| Operator | NASA / JPL |
| Mission duration | 4 minutes, 53 seconds Failed to orbit |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft type | Mariner based on Ranger Block I |
| Manufacturer | Jet Propulsion Laboratory |
| Launch mass | 202.8 kilograms (447 lb) |
| Power | 220 watts (at Venus encounter) |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | July 22, 1962, 09:21:23 UTC |
| Rocket | Atlas LV-3 Agena-B |
| Launch site | Cape Canaveral LC-12 |
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Mariner 1 was a NASA spacecraft. It was the first spacecraft in the Mariner program. Mariner 1 was planned to do a Venus fly-by. However, it was destroyed by the Range Safety Officer 293 seconds after launch. It was destroyed because the rocket moved off course and was a safety risk. Mariner 1 was followed by Mariner 2.
Why it was destroyed
The Atlas-Agena rocket was controlled by a hand-written formula:
Which means "the nth smoothed value of the time derivative of a radius R". However, for this mission, an overline (‾) was missing in the formula, which looks something like this:
Because the smoothing function was missing, the rocket became sensitive at minor changes. Then, the rocket became out of control and destroyed by the Range Safety Officer. Few years later, Arthur C. Clarke wrote that Mariner 1 was "wrecked by the most expensive hyphen in history".
Images for kids
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Mariner II trajectory projected on the ecliptic plane.
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Diagram of Mariner 1
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The communications station at Woomera
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Atlas Agena with Mariner 1
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See also
In Spanish: Mariner 1 para niños
