NASA scientists hand-drew the first TV image of Mars in 1965

In 1965, before Mariner 4's photographs of Mars were fully transmitted, NASA scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory manually created the first image of the planet using pastel colors on paper. The hand-drawn image was based on coded data from the probe and was shown on television before the actual photos were released. Mariner 4, launched on November 28, 1964, was the first successful mission to Mars, taking 22 photographs on July 15, 1965, from about 13,000 km away. The drawing was presented to Dr. William H. Picking and framed. Kristen Erickson, NASA's director of science and partnerships, called it "a gesture of love for science."