Mariner-9 joins race to Mars
America's Mariner-9 spacecraft is off on its six-Month journey to the red planet Mars Today in the wake of two Russian crafts, Mars-2 and Mars-3.
The successful launch here tonight, followed by faultless separation from the parent rocket cheered Space Agency officials depressed by the failure earlier this month of Mariner-9's cousin Mariner-8.
Plunged into the Atlantic barely minutes after blast-off on May 8, a $77 million flop. Since then, Russians have announced their two successful launching of Mars-2, 12 days ago and Mars-3 last Friday.
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