* Atlas Computer ( Manchester ) ( 1962 – 1971 ), an early computer built at the University of Manchester

* 1971 – Lou Merloni, American baseball player

* 1971 – Sanjay Suri, Indian actor and model

* 1971 – Nick Hexum, American singer and musician ( 311 )

* 1971 – Nicholas Brendon, American actor

* 1971 – Shannen Doherty, American actress, producer, director, and author

* 1971 – John Boyne, Irish novelist

* 1971 – Darren Emerson, English DJ ( Underworld )

* 1971 – An attempted coup fails in the African nation of Chad.

* 1971 – Julian Cheung, Hong Kong actor and singer

* 1971 – Ernest Faber, Dutch footballer and coach

* 1971 – Aygül Özkan, German politician

* 1882 – Ernst Eklund, Swedish actor ( d. 1971 )

* 1886 – Edward Ballantine, American composer ( d. 1971 )

* 1971 – Merrin Dungey, American actress

* 1971 – Scott Minto, English footballer

* 1971 – Piyal Wijetunge, Sri Lankan cricketer

* 1971 – The Troubles: The British security forces in Northern Ireland launch Operation Demetrius.

* 1971 – Mack 10, American rapper and actor ( Westside Connection )

* 1971 – James Kim, American journalist and technology expert ( d. 2006 )

* 1971 – Mark Povinelli, American actor

* 1971 – Davide Rebellin, Italian cyclist

* 1971 – Nikki Ziering, American model and actress

* 1943 – Michael Willetts, English soldier, George Cross recipient ( d. 1971 )

* 1971 – Moritz Bleibtreu, German actor

Space probes have been placed into orbit around all the five planets known to the ancients: first Mars ( Mariner 9, 1971 ), then Venus ( Venera 9, 1975 ; but landings on Venus and atmospheric probes were performed even earlier ), Jupiter ( Galileo, 1995 ), Saturn ( Cassini / Huygens, 2004 ), and most recently Mercury ( MESSENGER, March 2011 ), and have returned data about these bodies and their natural satellites.

Its identical sister craft, Mariner 9, was launched in May 1971 and became the first artificial satellite of Mars.

* 1971 – The American space probe, Mariner 9, becomes the first spacecraft to orbit another planet successfully, swinging into its planned trajectory around Mars.

The Mariner 9 spacecraft arrived in orbit around Mars in 1971 during a global dust-storm.

Mariner 9 was launched toward Mars on May 30, 1971 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and reached the planet on November 14 of the same year, becoming the first spacecraft to orbit another planet — only narrowly beating Soviet Mars 2 and Mars 3, which both arrived within a month.

When Mariner 9 arrived at Mars on 14 November 1971, planetary scientists were surprised to find the atmosphere was thick with " a planet-wide robe of dust, the largest storm ever observed.

* 1971 – The Mariner 9 Mars spacecraft becomes the first to successfully orbit another planet.

* May 9, 1971 ; Centaur guidance failed, destroying itself and the Mariner 8 spacecraft bound for Mars orbit.

* Mariner 9 – 30 May 1971 – First Mars orbiter

Valles Marineris ( Latin for Mariner Valleys, named after the Mariner 9 Mars orbiter of 1971 – 72 which discovered it ) is a system of canyons that runs along the Martian surface east of the Tharsis region.

When Mariner 9 arrived and successfully orbited Mars on 14 November 1971, just two weeks prior to Mars 2 and Mars 3, planetary scientists were surprised to find the atmosphere was thick with " a planet-wide robe of dust, the largest storm ever observed.

When Mariner 9 arrived and successfully orbited Mars on 14 November 1971, just two weeks prior to Mars 2 and Mars 3, planetary scientists were surprised to find the atmosphere was thick with " a planet-wide robe of dust, the largest storm ever observed.

Orlando, Florida: Mariner Books, 1973, First edition 1971.

Among the missions on which he has participated were the 1967 Mariner 5 flyby mission to Venus, the 1971 Mariner 9 orbiter mission to Mars, the Voyager mission to the outer planets of the solar system, the Galileo mission to Jupiter, and the Mars Global Surveyor orbiter.

The volcano was discovered by the Mariner 9 spacecraft in 1971 and was originally called Middle Spot.

Ascraeus Mons was discovered by the Mariner 9 spacecraft in 1971.

The Tharsis Montes were discovered by the Mariner 9 spacecraft in 1971.

His proposal was partially confirmed in 1971 with the arrival of Mariner 9, which showed that strong winds could move dust around the planet, creating the changes of appearance formerly attributed to some kind of vegetation.