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
Space science in Estonia a large antenna reflector back structure for an ESA 35 metres radio telescope in Australia, which tracked Mars Express on its way to the red planet. For several years Estonian scientists have collaborated with the ESA program Gaia, which plans to launch a space probe in 2011 to measure the brightness and exact coordinates of millions of space objects, both in the Milky Way galaxy as well as in more distant galaxies. Estonian scientists have offered their advice on how to measure these objects by using spectrophotometry. Space science in Estonia The cornerstone of the Estonian cosmological research is the