An Atlas-Centaur launched at 5:22 p.m. EST on March 27, 1969, to ship Mariner 7 on its solution to Mars. Mariner 7 joined its sister spacecraft, Mariner 6, on a journey that carried them inside 2,000 miles of the pink planet that summer time. Mariner 6 was launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Feb. 24 and investigated the Martian equatorial space whereas Mariner 7 focused on the south polar cap.
