Red Planet Day

Every year on November 28, we celebrate Red Planet Day. Mars is also known as the Red Planet because its surface has a lot of iron minerals, which makes it appear red.

The Red Planet Day celebrates the launch of the Spacecraft Mariner 4 by NASA in 1964. This was the first spacecraft to reach Mars.  

Mariner 4 was launched on November 28, 1964. It reached Mars after about eight months of travelling. Its job was to study Mars by collecting information and sending it back to Earth. It also aimed to capture images of the planet.

The images taken by Mariner 4 helped scientists confirm that Mars’ surface is similar to the moon’s, with lots of craters (deep and wide holes). It also measured the extremely cold daytime temperatures on Mars.

NASA kept contact with Mariner 4 till December 31, 1967, three years after its launch.