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1993-04-21
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OFFICE OF PUBLIC INFORMATION
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY, CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIFORNIA. TELEPHONE 354-5011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Commands were transmitted from Earth yesterday to two
Mariner interplanetary spacecraft operating at widely-separated
points in the solar system, the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration reported today.
The mission of Mariner V, which flew within 2500 miles
of Venus last October 19, was terminated with a command to switch
the spacecraft's transmitter from a high-gain directional antenna
to a low-gain all-directional antenna.
Its mission at Venus completed, Mariner V is in a solar
orbit between the orbits of Venus and Mercury at a position about
74 million miles from Earth and about 60 million miles from the
sun.
Ground commands also were sent to Mariner IV, which
achieved the first close-up photography of Mars in 1965 and
continues to operate after nearly three years in space. The
spacecraft was launched November 28, 1964, and has traveled
nearly 1.5 billion miles.
Mariner IV, now circling the sun between Earth and Mars,
was commanded to once again take TV pictures--this time of black
space-- to check out the condition of the spacecraft's camera and
the ability of the data storage system to record on magnetic tape
after its long exposure to the space environment.
Commands to both spacecraft originated in the Space
Flight Operations Facility at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in
-2-
Pasadena, Calif., and were radioed from the Deep Space Network
station at Goldstone, California.
Both Mariners will remain in solar orbit indefinitely.
Mariner IV's nitrogen gas supply, which keeps the spacecraft
stabilized, is expected to be depleted during the next few weeks.
Reception of data will end thereafter when Mariner drifts to the
point where the solar panels no longer face the sun.
It may be possible to renew the Mariner V mission next
September when the directional antenna is once again pointed
toward Earth.
462/11-22-67