On November 13, 1971, Mariner 9 became the first spacecraft to orbit Mars.
At the time, scientists didn't know much about the Red Planet. NASA had several flybys before Mariner 9. Those flybys showed that Mars had a cratered surface, so some scientists thought that Mars looked just like the moon. Then Mariner 9 blew blew their minds. When Mariner 9 got to Mars, it arrived in the middle of a dust storm. It saw some tall structures sticking through the clouds. When the dust settled, images from Mariner 9 revealed that these structures were the tops of huge volcanoes. One volcano, Olympus Mons, is the tallest in the solar system. Mariner 9 also spotted an enormous canyon called Valles Marineris. This canyon is five times longer than the Grand Canyon in Arizona. Mariner 9 worked for one year in orbit. When it ran out of gas, NASA shut it off. But the spacecraft remains one of the most famous Mars voyagers of all time.
At the time, scientists didn't know much about the Red Planet. NASA had several flybys before Mariner 9. Those flybys showed that Mars had a cratered surface, so some scientists thought that Mars looked just like the moon. Then Mariner 9 blew blew their minds. When Mariner 9 got to Mars, it arrived in the middle of a dust storm. It saw some tall structures sticking through the clouds. When the dust settled, images from Mariner 9 revealed that these structures were the tops of huge volcanoes. One volcano, Olympus Mons, is the tallest in the solar system. Mariner 9 also spotted an enormous canyon called Valles Marineris. This canyon is five times longer than the Grand Canyon in Arizona. Mariner 9 worked for one year in orbit. When it ran out of gas, NASA shut it off. But the spacecraft remains one of the most famous Mars voyagers of all time.
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TechTranscript
00:00On this day in space.
00:03On November 13th, 1971, Mariner 9 became the first spacecraft to orbit Mars.
00:09At the time, scientists didn't know much about the red planet.
00:12NASA had several flybys before Mariner 9.
00:15Those flybys showed that Mars had a cratered surface,
00:18so some scientists thought that Mars looked just like the moon.
00:21Then Mariner 9 blew their minds.
00:24When Mariner 9 got to Mars, it arrived in the middle of a dust storm.
00:28It saw some tall structures sticking out through the clouds.
00:31When the dust settled, images from Mariner 9 revealed that these structures were the tops of huge volcanoes.
00:37One volcano, Olympus Mons, is the tallest in the solar system.
00:42Mariner 9 also spotted an enormous canyon called Valles Marineris.
00:46This canyon is five times longer than the Grand Canyon in Arizona.
00:50Mariner 9 worked for one year in orbit.
00:53When it ran out of gas, NASA shut it off.
00:56This spacecraft remains one of the most famous Mars voyagers of all time.
01:00And that's what happened on this day in space.