1964-11-28 USA Mariner 4

Mariner 4 launch cover, postmarked Cape Canaveral, November 28, 1964, signed by Jack N. James (Project Manager of the Mariner Program),  Dr. Robert J. Parks (Planetary Program Director of Jet Propulsion Laboratory), Dan Schneiderman (Mariner Spacecraft System Manager), Dr. John A. Simpson (Principal Investigator), Dr. Joseph J. O'Gallagher (Other Investigator).
Mariner 4, launched on November 28, 1964, was on an eight-month voyage to Mars. The spacecraft flew past Mars on July 14, 1965, collecting the first close-up photographs of another planet. The pictures showed lunar-type impact craters, some of them touched with frost in the chill Martian evening. The Mariner 4 spacecraft actually lasted about three years in solar orbit, continuing long-term studies of the solar wind environment and making coordinated measurements with Mariner 5, a sister ship launched to Venus in 1967. Mariner 4 profoundly changed the scientific community's view of life on Mars.

Photo: Launch of Mariner 4 on November 28, 1964.
Mariner 4 launch cover, postmarked at Cape Canaveral on November 28, 1964. Signed by William Hayward Pickering, Director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Scene at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., July 13, 1965, where the engineers and scientist were anxiously awaiting Mariner 4's encounter with Mars on July 14, 1965.
Photo: From left to right, Jack N. James, W. A. Collier, Dan Schneiderman at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., on July 14, 1965, the day Mariner 4 was expected to fly by Mars.
Mariner 4 fly-by Mars cover, postmarked at Cape Canaveral on July 14, 1965. Signed by William Hayward Pickering, Director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Photo: The surface of Mars taken by Mariner 4 on July 14, 1965.
(Reference from NASA Facts - Mariner to Mercury, Venus and Mars)