Our first view of Mars came to us from Mariner 4. Launched on November 28, 1964, it made its closest encounter with Mars on July 14, 1965 at a flyby distance of 6,000 miles.
In the 22 close-up pictures that were transmitted to Earth, many craters such as the one shown here and many naturally occurring channels were found. There was, however, no trace of artificial canals or flowing water as some people believed might exist.
Although no signs of life were observed, not everyone was convinced that life may not still exist in the form of vegetation somewhere on the planet. It would be left to future missions to decide.
