An orbiter prepares to map Mars

The landing prepared for direct observations and sample collection by human explorers on the Moon.

Michael Collins piloted the command module while the lunar module descended to the surface.

The landing was a milestone in human exploration of the solar system; the first steps took place later in UTC on 21 July.

The spacecraft became the first human-made object to orbit another planet.

Engine firing slowed Mariner 9 enough for capture by Martian gravity.

Mariner 9 showed how staying in orbit could reveal much more than a single passing encounter.

Designed and built in India, the country’s first satellite was launched on a Soviet rocket.

Aryabhata began a new phase in India’s scientific and engineering space work.

The launch from Kapustin Yar illustrates international cooperation in the early Indian space program.

The spacecraft took its name from the mathematician and astronomer whose work was studied in the earlier astronomy batch.