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1993-04-21
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OFFICE OF PUBLIC EDUCATION AND INFORMATION
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY, CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIFORNIA. TELEPHONE 354-5011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE APRIL 29, 1965
The Mars-bound Mariner IV spacecraft early today
established a new United States and world communications distance
record when it reached a point in space more than 66 million
miles from Earth, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory reported.
The mark exceeds that reported two years ago by Soviet
scientists who said they lost radio contact with their Mars I
spacecraft at a distance of more than 65 million miles.
At the speed of light, radio signals from Mariner IV
now take nearly six minutes to reach NASA's deep space tracking
stations on Earth. The Woomera, Australia, station of the Deep
Space Network was tracking the spacecraft when the new communica-
tions record was set. Today is the 152nd day of the mission.
Mariner IV will fly by Mars next July 14 at an altitude
of about 5,000 miles. Communications distance at that time will
be 134 million miles.
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333-4/29/65