Mariner 4’s first close-up view of Mars
Mariner 4 was the first spacecraft to perform a close flyby of Mars, doing so on July 15, 1965. This, the first close-up of Mars, is not much to look at, but it was a profound goosebump-inducing image, as TIME explained at the time. Over the course of its mission to the Red Planet, the NASA probe changed our view of Mars, revealing it to be barren and crater-filled and not teeming with life.
