Vintage 1:8 scale model of the Mariner IV spacecraft, measuring approximately 25 x 17 x 25 with the four solar panels lowered for display. The model is suspended upon a 10″ diameter base, which features a small engraved nameplate; the base's original storage canister is no longer present. In very good to fine condition, with expected wear from use and storage, which includes scattered light soiling and some peeling to panels. From the personal collection of Charlie Dry, a former Apollo test astronaut and research engineer and senior scientific analyst at NASA. The Mariner 4 conducted close-up scientific observation of Mars when it made the first successful flybys of the planet on July 14 and 15, 1965. The probe transmitted the first pictures of the Martian surface, and the first images of another planet ever returned from deep space.
