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Mission record

Mariner 3

Also known as Mariner3

NASA-Office of Space Science Applications · Launched

Explore trajectory

Failed · Failure

Mariner 3 entered an unintended Earth-escape trajectory with its protective shroud still attached, preventing solar-panel deployment and obstructing its instruments. Tracking confirmed separation from the Agena. Contact was lost during attempts to free the spacecraft; execution of a subsequently scheduled recovery burn is unknown.

Destinations
Launch vehicle
Atlas-Agena D
Launch site
Cape Canaveral, United States
Countries
United States
Mission types
Flyby

Chronology

Mission timeline

  1. Launch

    Launched on an Atlas-Agena D from Cape Canaveral

    The original project and tracking reports record launch from Complex 13 at 19:22:04.920 GMT on November 5, 1964. The source records a 102.9-degree launch azimuth. This refines the rounded catalog clock without establishing millisecond absolute accuracy.

    Earth

  2. Milestone

    Entered a low-energy Earth-escape trajectory

    The Pretoria tracking record identifies Mark 10, injection, at 19:55:41.15 GMT. Independent orbit reductions later gave C3 about 4.06 km²/s², well below the planned Mars injection energy.

    Earth

  3. Milestone

    Separated from Agena with the shroud retained

    Marks 11 and 12 were confirmed at 19:58:22.9 GMT. Subsequent Agena tracking confirmed its retromaneuver and demonstrated that it had separated from the spacecraft. The protective shroud remained with Mariner 3.

    Earth

  4. Milestone

    Telemetry ended as battery power declined

    The original tracking report places telemetry loss in the 04:05 GMT minute. Its printed seconds field is malformed; a separate estimated battery lifetime is not used to invent a precise loss time. A second recovery burn was scheduled after telemetry ended, so its execution could not be verified.

    Earth

  5. Mission end

    Johannesburg lost radio tracking

    NASA/JPL TM33-239, printed page 51, records loss of Johannesburg tracking at 040624Z. This marks last radio contact, not spacecraft impact or a known endpoint of heliocentric motion.

    Earth

Mission architecture

Vehicles

  • Mariner 3 · Spacecraft

    Destinations: Mars

Trajectory record

Trajectory dataset not yet available

Known dates and encounters do not uniquely determine a flight path. This mission’s sourced timeline is available above; no verified trajectory is currently published here.

What is needed to reconstruct this path?
  • A frame-qualified position and vector velocity at an epoch, or equivalent complete orbital elements. The NASA EP-39 scalar orbit summary omits orientation and phase.
  • The actual failed-flight state history. Intended destinations are not evidence that the spacecraft reached them.

Provenance

Sources

Each source is listed once and labeled with the mission, event, trajectory, or destination/body context it supports.

Data verified through October 12, 2026