Working Long Hours on Mariner 4

This photo was taken around the time of the Mariner 4 launch to Mars, which launched on 28 November 1964. This was a busy time for everyone working on the project and it meant long hours, especially for the ones who had to travel back and forth to Goldstone Tracking Station in the Mojave Desert.

The photo shows the computer room of the Echo antenna site at Goldstone. The Mars antenna site (with a new 210-foot, or 64-meter antenna) was under construction at this time, so it was not used for the launch or flyby phases of this Mars mission.

The man in the sleeping bag is tentatively identified as Joseph P. Fearey, who was a member of the Communications Engineering and Operations Section (332). Goldstone had a dormitory for JPL workers, but it must have been full, or Joe decided to stay close to the action while taking a break.