Editing Mariner program (section)

{{Short description|NASA space program from 1962 to 1973}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2013}}
[[Image:Atlas Agena with Mariner 1.jpg|thumb|Launch of [[Mariner 1]] in 1962]]

The '''Mariner program''' was conducted by the American space agency [[NASA]] to explore other [[planet]]s. Between 1962 and late 1973, NASA's [[Jet Propulsion Laboratory]] (JPL) designed and built 10 [[Robotic spacecraft|robotic]] [[Space probe|interplanetary probes]] named Mariner to explore the inner [[Solar System]] – visiting the planets [[Venus]], [[Mars]] and [[Mercury (planet)|Mercury]] for the first time, and returning to Venus and Mars for additional close observations.<ref name="NASA">{{citation-attribution|1={{cite web |title=Mariner to Mercury, Venus and Mars |url=https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/fact_sheets/mariner.pdf |publisher=NASA |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170215082222/https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/fact_sheets/mariner.pdf |access-date=19 October 2020|archive-date=February 15, 2017 }} }}</ref>

The program included a number of interplanetary firsts, including the first successful [[planetary flyby]], the planetary [[orbiter]], and the first [[gravity assist]] maneuver.<ref name=M_program /> Of the 10 vehicles in the Mariner series, seven were successful, forming the starting point for many subsequent NASA/JPL space probe programs. The planned Mariner Jupiter-Saturn vehicles were adapted into the [[Voyager program]],<ref name=butrica /> while the [[Viking program]] orbiters were enlarged versions of the [[Mariner 9]] spacecraft.  Later Mariner-based spacecraft include [[Galileo spacecraft|Galileo]] and [[Magellan spacecraft|Magellan]], while the second-generation [[Mariner Mark II]] series evolved into the [[Cassini–Huygens]] probe.

The total cost of the Mariner program was approximately $554 million.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1964-077A|title=NASA – NSSDCA – Spacecraft – Details|website=nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov}}</ref>