thumb|Launch of [[Mariner 1 in 1962]]
The Mariner program was conducted by the American space agency NASA to explore other planets. Between 1962 and late 1973, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) designed and built 10 robotic interplanetary probes named Mariner to explore the inner Solar System – visiting the planets Venus, Mars and Mercury for the first time, and returning to Venus and Mars for additional close observations.
The program included a number of interplanetary firsts, including the first successful planetary flyby, the planetary orbiter, and the first gravity assist maneuver.
Early concept
The Mariner program began in 1960 with a series of JPL mission studies for small-scale, frequent exploration of the nearest planets. They were to take advantage of the soon-to-be-available Atlas launch vehicles as well as the developing capability of JPL's Deep Space Instrumentation Facility (later named the Deep Space Network), a global network of ground stations designed to communicate with spacecraft in deep space.
Each spacecraft was to carry solar panels that would be pointed toward the Sun and a dish antenna that would be pointed at Earth. Each would also carry a host of scientific instruments. Some of the instruments, such as cameras, would need to be pointed at the target body it was studying. Other instruments were non-directional and studied phenomena such as magnetic fields and charged particles. JPL engineers proposed to make the Mariners "three-axis-stabilized," meaning that unlike other space probes they would not spin.
! Last contact
! Destination
! Mission
! Outcome
! Remarks
|-
| Mariner 1<br/><small>(P-37)</small>
|
| Atlas-LV3 Agena-B
|
| <br/>(destroyed)
| Venus
| Flyby
|
| Failed to orbit; destroyed by range safety following guidance failure
|-
| Mariner 2<br/><small>(P-38, Mariner R-2)</small>
| 203 kg<BR>(446 lb)
| Atlas-LV3 Agena-B
|
| 7:00 UT
| Venus
| Flyby
|
| First flyby of Venus with data returned, on 14 December 1962. A copy of Mariner 1.
|-
| Mariner 3 <small>(Mariner C-2)</small>
|
| Atlas LV-3 Agena-D
|
|
| Mars
| Flyby
|
| Payload fairing failed to separate
|-
| Mariner 4 <small>(Mariner C-3)</small>
| 261 kg<BR>(575 lb)
| Atlas LV-3 Agena-D
|
|
| Mars
| Flyby
|
| First flyby of Mars, on 15 July 1965. A copy of Mariner 3.
|-
| Mariner 5 <small>(Mariner Venus '67)</small>
| 245 kg<BR>(540 lb)
| Atlas SLV-3 Agena-D
|
| <BR><small>(Briefly regained 14 October 1968)</small>
| Venus
| Flyby
|
| Flyby on 19 October 1967, closest approach at 17:34:56 UTC. Designed to measure magnetic fields and various emissions of the Venusian atmosphere.
|-
| Mariner 6 <small>(Mariner Mars 69A)</small>
| 413 kg<BR>(908 lb)
|
|
| December 23, 1970
(decommissioned)
| Mars
| Flyby
|
| rowspan="2" | Dual mission
|-
| Mariner 7 <small>(Mariner Mars 69B)</small>
| 413 kg<BR>(908 lb)
| Atlas SLV-3C Centaur-D
|
|December 28, 1970
(decommissioned)
| Mars
| Flyby
|
|-
| Mariner 8 <small>(Mariner-H)</small>
|
| Atlas SLV-3C Centaur-D
|
| <br>(destroyed)
| Mars
| Orbiter
|
| One of two probes designed to orbit Mars and return images and data. Lost in a vehicle malfunction.
|-
| Mariner 9 <small>(Mariner-I)</small>
| 998 kg<BR>(2,200 lb)
| Atlas SLV-3C Centaur-D
|
|
| Mars
| Orbiter
|
| Venus, Mercury
| Flyby
|
| First flyby of Mercury and the last Mariner probe launched
|-
|}
Mariners 1 and 2
thumb|Mariner 2
thumb|upright=0.8|Diagram of Mariner 1 and 2 with Atlas-Agena launch vehicle
Mariner 1 (P-37) and Mariner 2 (P-38) were two deep-space probes making up NASA's Mariner-R project. The primary goal of the project was to develop and launch two spacecraft sequentially to the near vicinity of Venus, receive communications from the spacecraft and to perform radiometric temperature measurements of the planet. A secondary objective was to make interplanetary magnetic field and/or particle measurements on the way to, and in the vicinity of, Venus. The spacecraft flew past Mars on July 14, 1965, collecting the first close-up photographs of another planet. The pictures, played back from a small tape recorder over a long period, showed lunar-type impact craters (just beginning to be photographed at close range from the Moon), some of them touched with frost in the chill Martian evening. The Mariner 4 spacecraft, expected to survive something more than the eight months to Mars encounter, actually lasted about three years in solar orbit, continuing long-term studies of the solar wind environment and making coordinated measurements with Mariner 5, a sister ship launched to Venus in 1967.
Mariner 5
150px|thumb|Mariner 5
The Mariner 5 spacecraft was launched to Venus on June 14, 1967, and arrived in the vicinity of the planet in October 1967. It carried a complement of experiments to probe Venus' atmosphere with radio waves, scan its brightness in ultraviolet light, and sample the solar particles and magnetic field fluctuations above the planet.
- Mission: Venus flyby
- Mass: 245 kg (540 lb)
- Sensors: ultraviolet photometer, cosmic dust, solar plasma, trapped radiation, cosmic rays, magnetic fields, radio occultation and celestial mechanics
Status:
Mariner 5 – Defunct and now in a heliocentric orbit.
Mariners 6 and 7
150px|thumb|Mariner 6/7
Mariners 6 and 7 were identical teammates in a two-spacecraft mission to Mars. Mariner 6 was launched on February 24, 1969, followed by Mariner 7 on March 21, 1969. They flew over the equator and southern hemisphere of the planet Mars. They analyzed atmosphere and surface with remote sensors as well as recording and relaying hundreds of pictures. By chance, both flew over cratered regions and missed both the giant northern volcanoes and the equatorial grand canyon discovered later. Their approach pictures did, however, show the dark features long seen from Earth, but no canals.
- Mission: Mars flybys
- Mass 413 kg (908 lb)
- Sensors: wide- and narrow-angle cameras with digital tape recorder, infrared spectrometer and radiometer, ultraviolet spectrometer, radio occultation and celestial mechanics.
Status: Both Mariner 6 and Mariner 7 are now defunct and are in a heliocentric orbit.
Mariner 10
150px|thumb|Mariner 10
The Mariner 10 spacecraft launched on November 3, 1973, and was the first to use a gravity assist trajectory, accelerating as it entered the gravitational influence of Venus, then being flung by the planet's gravity onto a slightly different course to reach Mercury.
Attribution: