Exploration of Mars on November 5, 1964, but the shroud encasing the spacecraft atop its rocket failed to open properly, dooming the mission. Three weeks later, on November 28, 1964, Mariner 4 was launched successfully on a 7½-month voyage to Mars.. Mariner 4 flew past Mars on July 14, 1965, providing the first close-up photographs of another planet. The pictures, gradually played back to Earth from a small tape recorder on the probe, showed impact craters. It provided radically more accurate data about the planet; a surface atmospheric pressure of about 1% of Earth's and daytime temperatures of −100 °C (−148 °F) were
Robinson Crusoe on Mars Robinson Crusoe on Mars Robinson Crusoe on Mars is a 1964 independently made American science fiction film in Technicolor and Techniscope, produced by Aubrey Schenck, directed by Byron Haskin, that stars Paul Mantee, Victor Lundin, and Adam West. The film was distributed by Paramount Pictures. As the title indicates, it is a science fiction retelling of the classic novel "Robinson Crusoe" by Daniel Defoe. Commander Christopher "Kit" Draper, USN (Paul Mantee) and Colonel Dan McReady, USAF (Adam West) reach the Red Planet in their spaceship, Mars Gravity Probe 1. They are forced to use up their remaining fuel in order