Optics and the mariner imaging instrument.

A television instrument was developed to observe the features of Mars at resolutions and accuracies greater than those obtainable from earth-based telescopes and from photographs obtained by Mariner IV. The television instruments developed for Mariners VI and VII are of a two-camera configuration, exposed alternately during the planetary encounter and providing both analog and digital data to two tape recorders on each spacecraft. Video data from the tape recorders are transmitted in digital form to earth-based tracking stations. This paper describes the functional aspects of the instrument performance and the details related to the optical design and performance. In addition, the objectives and constraints guiding and affecting the instrument development are described.