Vintage 1:8 scale model of the Mariner IV spacecraft, used by NASA as part of an outreach program during the late 1960s and early 1970s. When folded and stored within its original metal canister, the model measures approximately 15 x 6.5 x 6.5; when the four solar panels are lowered for display, the Mariner opens to an approximate measurement of 25 x 25. The model is suspended upon a 10″ diameter base, which features a small engraved nameplate. The included storage canister measures 19.75″ tall and is labeled in black stenciling: "Mariner IV, M-72-32." Additionally, the canister features a NASA 'meatball' logo sticker, a Dimensions Craft label, an Eastern Airlines shipping label, and a partial NASA receiving order addressed to the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston, Texas, dated January 9, 1969. Handle on canister top bears original green tag. In very good to fine condition, with expected wear from use and storage, including: scattered light soiling, and some peeling to solar panels; the Mariner leans slightly upon its base, and one solar panel is detached but present. Designed to conduct close-up scientific observations of Mars and to transmit these observations to Earth, the Mariner 4 represented the first successful flyby of the planet Mars, returning the first pictures of the Martian surface, and the first images of another planet ever returned from deep space.
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