Word: solarized
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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Mars may not look much like Earth; the pictures are, in fact, testimony to the uniqueness of Earth in the solar system. But Mars could still hold some of the secrets of Earth's evolution. "If the Martian surface is truly in its primitive form," said Dr. Leighton, "that surface may prove to be the best-perhaps the only-place in the solar system still preserving clues to original organic development, traces of which have long since disappeared from Earth...
...could not jettison its protective shroud. A powerful Atlas-Agena rocket lofted the 575-lb. Mariner IV through Earth's atmosphere, then kicked it loose to take off on its own like a great flying windmill. The spacecraft, freed from a cocoon-like covering, unfolded the four solar panels that powered its instruments by converting the sun's energy into electricity. With those panels deployed, it measured 22 ft. 7½ in. across and 9½ ft. to the top of its antenna. Curving into a wide-swinging, elliptical orbit that was precisely plotted in advance, the ship...
...still have earned its place in the annals of science. In its 325-million-mile, 228-day flight, it had charted interplanetary reaches never before explored by man and set an impressive record for long-distance communication. All during its trip, Mariner sent back valuable scientific information about the solar wind, cosmic dust, magnetic fields and deep-space radiation. In the vicinity of the red planet it scouted the hazards that astronauts will meet when they try to land there. It gave earthbound experts their most accurate estimates of the planet's structure and mass; it beamed radio signals...
...ship was a space scientist's dream laboratory-crammed to capacity. Its four panel blades shone purple from the thin sapphire-glass coating that protects their 28,224 tiny solar cells from radiation damage. Its silvery octagonal body, made of magnesium and aluminum alloy, carried 138,000 components, including 31,696 delicate electronic components ranging from a computer to a small, lO½-watt radio transmitter. It was programmed and equipped to send to Earth a continuous stream of reports on 39 scientific and 90 engineering measurements. Crowded into the spacecraft were a new type of helium gas magnetometer...
Mariner also looked for two near-Earth phenomena. It failed to find any evidence of the giant tail of Earth's magnetic field that is supposed to stretch thousands of miles out into space. In another experiment, Mariner measured the shock wave caused by solar pressure against Earth's magnetic field. The wave turned up three times at distances of 138,000 to 154,000 miles from Earth. This indicated, the scientists concluded, that the magnetic field around Earth is constantly expanding and contracting...