Mars flyby and rendezvous with the flyby segment transferring the crew over. (see also Mars Excursion Module (MEM)) Alternately, a flyby-only human mission is also possible, without detaching at Mars, but to slingshot around Mars and back to Earth. In July 1965, Mariner 4 achieved a flyby of Mars with a return of data, providing the public and scientists with dramatically closer images of Mars. During the flyby Mariner 4 took 21 pictures amounting to about 1% of the surface of Mars. Mars was not globally mapped until the Mariner 9 orbiter, which over the course of 1972 to 1973 took thousands
Mars Observer on. The engine was derived from one belonging to an Earth orbital satellite and was not designed to lie dormant for months before being fired. The Mars Exploration Program was formed officially in the wake of the Mars Observer's failure in September 1993. The goals of that program include identifying the location of water, and preparing for manned missions to Mars. Mars Observer The Mars Observer spacecraft, also known as the Mars Geoscience/Climatology Orbiter, was a robotic space probe launched by NASA on September 25, 1992, to study the Martian surface, atmosphere, climate and magnetic field. During the interplanetary cruise