Solar panel designed for the Mariner 4 Mars flyby spacecraft. The panel measures approximately 71" x 35.5" x 5.25", and contains a total of 24 rows of solar cells, with each row composed of roughly 42 individual cell strips. The panel is mounted to a support structure with wiring and a single Bendix power connection port, and features a Ryan Aeronautical Co. parts label: "Mariner C, Part No. 4100…56, Serial No. 18." In very good to fine condition. The Mariner 4 spacecraft consisted of an octagonal magnesium frame with four solar panels attached to the top. Power was supplied to the spacecraft by 28,224 solar cells contained in the four 69" x 35" solar panels, which could provide 310 W at Mars.
Launched on November 28, 1964, Mariner 4 was the fourth in a series of spacecraft used for planetary exploration in a flyby mode and, after a seven-month voyage, represented the first successful flyby of the planet Mars, returning the first pictures of the Martian surface. These represented the first images of another planet ever returned from deep space. Mariner 4 was designed to conduct closeup scientific observations of Mars and to transmit these observations to Earth. Other mission objectives were to perform field and particle measurements in interplanetary space in the vicinity of Mars and to provide experience in and knowledge of the engineering capabilities for interplanetary flights of long duration.
