\<COLOUR 1> CLOSEST APPROACH: \<COLOUR 0> 3,430 km, July 31, 1969
\<COLOUR 1> COUNTRY: \<COLOUR 0> USA
\<COLOUR 1> COMMENTS: \<COLOUR 0> First probe to send back good-quality images of Mars, 75 pictures being returned of the lunar-like cratered surface; detects mainly carbon dioxide atmosphere at about one-hundredth of Earth's atmospheric pressure; the identical Mariner 7, launched March 27, 1969, makes its closest approach on August 5, 1969, and returns over 120 pictures.