2008 Grenadines 50 Yrs "Mariner 9"

Mint Stamps Picture Mariner 9 and Images of Mars

This mint stamp sheet celebrates 50 years of space exploration and highlights the Mariner 9 orbiter.

This space orbiter was launched on May 30, 1971 and arrived at Mars on November 13 that same year. It soon became the first spacecraft to orbit another planet. This achievement came just one month before the Soviet Mars 2 and 3 orbiters arrived for the same purpose. The Mariner 9 orbited the planet for a few months while dust storms swirled, but eventually sent back clear pictures of the surface.