wries of pictures was followed bv another series (POS2) wwcth the average orbrtai period ( I I hours, 58 minutes.

14 seconds)
similsr tcminq. T>ese pictures were taken as tile ,pxeciaft
approached the planet to obtain a set of global. full-dirk
pictures t o be used in IowiLsoIuticln mauoir'tq. The last se
was found t o be slightly too stiort, graduaily changing the
time relationship of the low point in the orbit (pertapsis) to
the tracknu station (Fip. 71. a chanqe v h c h would eventuallv
I

quence (POS 3) was taken during a sliqhtly shorter period
than the others because of The insertmi of Mariner 9 tnta
orbit.
On Novtrmter 14 GMT {November 13 E T ) . the spacecraft
was inserted successfully into Ofb4t around Mars (Fig 51 by
a f 5 m m u t e motor burn (Fiqure 6 IS a cotnplete mlsston pro
file of Mariner 9 during i t s orbital operation phase.) TWOdays
after insertion, 01)thP fourth r e v o l u r m wound the pldnpt, the
spacecraft*s orbit was corrected by d six-second flrtnq of the
a f f x t the reception of the data playbacks from the spacecraft.
AT the time of Mariner's arrivd. the planet-wide dart
storm, which had been observed from Earth through telescopes
starting in late September. was siill obscucinq the surface
features of Mars. This storm actually was a bonus to sclentlsts
arid ultimately provided many additional sctennftc ftndinqs
ct was, however, responsible for the one and one-half m o p t h
delay in the irnagemapptnq phasp of t h mission,
~ whch could
not be started until the dust sTorm subsided. Ch.mns the wact-

eihptrcat flight path around Mars. ih orhits of the rwo moons Phohos ann' D ~ i m o s arp . in I ) ~ Ptqqtratoriaf pkne of Mars.
The 64-rregreeinclinatron of the spacecraft orhrt made i t possthle to nhotoqra@ tipe soitth and north polar reqtons of Mars.

3
Surface Maps
One of the prlmary oblectives of the Mariner 9 mission
was to obotographically map the planet, Mars, by taking wide-
angle pictures which would establish the positions of surface
features and form the geodetic grid. Pictures of higher resolu-
spacecraft approached the solid disk of the planet, the radto
signals were altered by propagation waves through the planet’s
atmosphere. The radio signals passed thrwtgh the upper, then
the lower, atmosphere. During this tcme. variations could be
Fig 32 The northern hemtsnherp of M a n from rhl? polar cap tu a few degrees south of the P(jttaror, take!?Atqosr
7, 1972 ComNex sedimentary sysipms can be seen in the area of the north patar ice cap, which was shrtnktng in
the fate Marttan spring. Fracttired terrain. fierttally floodeed b y volrar)ic ex trosions. is visihfe in t h P centw of the disk.
fhe voicanic motrn fains can f i seen
~ at rhe lower kef? and the wPst end of rhr p m t eqtiaroriai canyon, Copram. at
lower rrght 7he thrce cotw?uterml)ancCrdphotogrwhs cornpristng the tmxaic w r rakm ~ 84 seconcls ajiart from an
average range of 13.000kilomehrs (8500 mites).

21
 n recording of ths left photograph OR orbit 99md the fight phatogrsph
This 8-kilomelslr fdmilej feature ck?teti?psd b e r ~ ~ ethe
on orbit ?a, thirteen days later. n e tolei 8rtM shown is iipproxrmalely 45 kilometers 128 miiesj wide.
I

22
 " ..
the dust from the surface to expose the dark undedying materkl.

23
Fig. 36. The w t r f i k e surface texture of the dwk patch in the crater, &own in ?he wide.angle Dicture (lefft, can be seen in the
ac?jacef?tn m w @ ephotognwb /ff@?t).The pmem is indicative of sand dunes The cram (47's. 330"WI is about 65 kif@
meters 140 miles) wide.

24
 fr
rpsctromator (Fig. 42) measumtwnts of tho pressure of the
atmaphem rt the upper b o u n w #Ed from ndio d t a i o n
(Fig. 43) md infrared spectrometer (Fig. 44) rnemmnmn
of the lowar boundary {the planet's burface). The aver-
upper bouncbary prarrunn were 1 to 2 mittiban, which meant
the dust was rising 15 kilometa I10 miles) above a mean
surface davation of 6 millibars. In some instances, dust levels
hi& as 45 k i l ~ ~ ~ (30 t s nm i l d WWe &tact&.
The irrftared qnctramrtar and radio accultationr deter-
mined the atmospheric temperature (figs. 45 and 46).
t,mperawnr WURalmost itothmJ. i.c, the tempcraturca
untxpscrad but logical rewlt 0
the dust storm subsi
more typical, with
increased. Such profiles wsn also
obsmtd M a r i m 4.6, and 7. Fran Mariner 9 data. it W(LI
noted that the south potat regions had a well-estaMished and
vrrll-fanned t m p a a t u r e inwnim condition {Fig. 471, with
the temperature increasing instead of &creasing with attituda
fw the first few kilomutea rrkwg the surface.
The more n m a l condition of mnperatum decreasing
the altitude increared (tcmpcnhlre Ispsorate) gave the f a t
ut
grscnwneter marrunmecrb dso d r d tha the dapt), ot
the dust layer was cfecrersing: ground surface featurn coufd
be datacd. md clearing became evident around the planet
Some amas took longer than othm to bscDme visible because
of the local winds and/or the demer atmosphere of lonmr tlt
vations. Hellits. me of the lowest @aces on Man, may not
have c l u e d untit late in the miaim, winter in the muthsm
hemisphere (Fig. 481.
A high-altitude haze (limb hut;m Fig 49) was obmwed,
8s expected. beaus@it had in the fly-by mi*
r i m of 1965 and 1969 and sls b6%nprsdiclsd from
Earth-based obrstrvstiw of et tr. Small I d &t
storm (Fig. 50) were detected on many occasions. and their
Fig 50 Twv Martian dust sfurns ne# photographed by Mariner 9. TKe photograph on the left was hkm Februury 11; &e
m & r picrum, &bout 14 hams later; and the photogriwh on &e right, about two weeks kter. m e middie picture shows a dust
storm 500 k i t m h s n 13CW)miieJi wide. The photogrwh on the ri4;ht shows chwing of the central ama and. to rhe left, 8 new dust
c l w d about 300 kilometers tm miiesl west a* the fint storm. The atreme@ covering and uncovering of dark wrfecm 6 y mnd-
N o w light-c-coiorpd dust is befiewed to be the cause of the charyes in surfacenark-ingr d i c h have been observed from Ear&.
7he arrow point to the sdme c r e w in e g ~ h
photogri4oh.

<a) (b)
Fig. 5 f . Ciwd layerr in ohe norr), pol&!rhood. In the wdL?angiephotoqrwh (left), the limb IS sixw ar the iowr left. blffndfnqinto
&e hsrminator {the rw'light tone betwen day 5nd night). The nerrowcwtgie pienire {right) shows ttte dt?tai/& strwcture of the
mnterparf of the w;dc.an$te view. The great number of c h i d stratifications BIP revealed b y #re lighting in rhe terminator

32
Fig. 55 A comphcaterl sfrtrcrttre In &e [)oldrhood CfOlJdS The ceritrdf area in the wideear?gfe photograph {leftl :s shown m the
narrowangle photograph irrghtj centered at 60 '#. t78 'W The cfocitfs, ctose to the surface. are strntiar I n apitearance fo heavy,
snowladete,,c l o d s seen on Earth. The w'rlr'mgte vtew spans 7 0 0 0 krloivcters f600 ntriesl. and the oarrow+qltt. prcntrt? C O V P ~ S
100 kilometerr f60 irides). Both w r e rdkeri att orhit 214.

35
 rmatar arid wre

fhs cumpeition of

nations of water v

etsr is ttta amount of water

(dissociated1 because cd the solar flux