In the Life Magazine (special double issue The mid 60s) left, below, there's a great article about the space events of that year: the year that man stepped into space; his horizon has become infinity; for the first time, thanks to Ranger 9, details on the moon 2,000 times sharper than from earth based telescopes, could be seen. Mariner 4 took for the first time pictures of Mars (no canals, just craters), Zond 3 produced the second series of photographs from the farside of the Moon (excellent quality).
Early Bird into service on GEO providing the earth with continuous coverage, Tiros started saving lives.
According to Sir Arthur, there was a feeling of departure in the air.