Mars flyby

Data collected from Mariner 4's flyby on a modern map
This shows two of the frames from the Mariner 4 flyby projected over a grid

A Mars flyby is a movement of spacecraft passing in the vicinity of the planet Mars, but not entering orbit or landing on it.[1] Uncrewed space probes have used this method to collect data on Mars, as opposed to orbiting or landing.[2] A spacecraft designed for a flyby is also known as a "flyby bus" or "flyby spacecraft".[3]

  1. ^ Page 15-16 in Chapter 3 of David S. F. Portree's Humans to Mars: Fifty Years of Mission Planning, 1950 - 2000, NASA Monographs in Aerospace History Series, Number 21, February 2001. Available as NASA SP-2001-4521.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference bbc was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Joseph A. Angelo (2014). Encyclopedia of Space and Astronomy. Infobase Publishing. p. 171. ISBN 978-1-4381-1018-9.