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Mariner program
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==Mariners== The Mariners were all relatively small robotic explorers, each launched on an Atlas rocket with either an Agena or Centaur upper-stage booster, and weighing less than half a ton (without onboard rocket propellant). Each of their missions was completed within a few months to a year or two, though one of them outlived its original mission and continued to send useful scientific data for three years.<ref name="NASA"/> {{clear}} {| class="wikitable sortable" ! Spacecraft ! Mass<ref name="NASA"/> ! Carrier rocket ! Launch date<ref>{{cite web|url=http://planet4589.org/space/log/launchlog.txt|title=Launch Log|first=Jonathan|last=McDowell|work=Jonathan's Space Page|access-date=21 January 2013}}</ref> ! Last contact ! Destination ! Mission ! Outcome ! Remarks |- | [[Mariner 1]]<br/><small>(P-37)</small> | | {{hs|Atlas-Agena B}}[[Atlas-Agena|Atlas-LV3 Agena-B]] | {{dts|22 July 1962}} | {{dts|22 July 1962}}<br/>(destroyed) | [[Venus]] | Flyby | {{no|{{hs|0}}Launch failure}} | Failed to orbit; destroyed by [[range safety]] following guidance failure<ref name="DSC62">{{cite book|chapter-url=https://history.nasa.gov/monograph24/1962.pdf|last=Siddiqi|first=Asif A.|title=Deep Space Chronicle: A Chronology of Deep Space and Planetary Probes 1958β2000|series=Monographs in Aerospace History, No. 24|date=2002|publisher=NASA History Office|chapter=1962|pages=34β37}}</ref> |- | [[Mariner 2]]<br/><small>(P-38, Mariner R-2)</small> | 203 kg<BR>(446 lb) | {{hs|Atlas-Agena B}}[[Atlas-Agena|Atlas-LV3 Agena-B]] | {{dts|27 August 1962}} | {{dts|3 January 1963}} 7:00 UT<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/connect/ebooks/beyond_earth_detail.html|title=Beyond Earth: A Chronicle of Deep Space Exploration|first=Garrett|last=Shea|date=September 20, 2018|website=NASA}}</ref> | Venus | Flyby | {{yes|{{hs|4}}Successful}} | First [[Flyby (spaceflight)|flyby]] of Venus with data returned,<ref group=note>[[Venera 1]] flew by in 1961, but the spacecraft failed en route and returned no data</ref> on 14 December 1962. A copy of Mariner 1. |- | [[Mariner 3]] <small>(Mariner C-2)</small> | | [[Atlas-Agena|Atlas LV-3 Agena-D]] | {{dts|5 November 1964}} | {{dts|5 November 1964}} | [[Mars]] | Flyby | {{no|{{hs|0}}Launch failure}} | Payload fairing failed to separate |- | [[Mariner 4]] <small>(Mariner C-3)</small> | 261 kg<BR>(575 lb) | [[Atlas-Agena|Atlas LV-3 Agena-D]] | {{dts|28 November 1964}} | {{dts|21 December 1967}} | Mars | Flyby | {{yes|{{hs|4}}Successful}} | 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) | {{hs|Atlas-Agena D}}[[Atlas-Agena|Atlas SLV-3 Agena-D]] | {{dts|14 June 1967}} | {{dts|4 December 1967}}<BR><small>(Briefly regained 14 October 1968<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://lasp.colorado.edu/home/missions-projects/quick-facts-mariner-5/|title=Quick Facts: Mariner 5|website=Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics|access-date=September 9, 2021|archive-date=September 16, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210916165807/https://lasp.colorado.edu/home/missions-projects/quick-facts-mariner-5/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.drewexmachina.com/2017/06/15/the-return-to-venus-the-mission-of-mariner-5/|title=The Return to Venus: The Mission of Mariner 5|first=James Jason Wentworth|last=says|date=June 15, 2017|website=Drew Ex Machina}}</ref>)</small> | Venus | Flyby | {{yes|{{hs|4}}Successful}} | Flyby on 19 October 1967, closest approach at 17:34:56 UTC.<ref name="DSC67">{{cite book|chapter-url=https://history.nasa.gov/monograph24/1967.pdf|last=Siddiqi|first=Asif A.|title=Deep Space Chronicle: A Chronology of Deep Space and Planetary Probes 1958β2000|series=Monographs in Aerospace History, No. 24|date=2002|publisher=NASA History Office|chapter=1967|pages=61β68}}</ref> Designed to measure magnetic fields and various emissions of the Venusian atmosphere. |- | [[Mariner 6]] <small>(Mariner Mars 69A)</small> | 413 kg<BR>(908 lb) | {{nowrap|[[Atlas-Centaur|Atlas SLV-3C Centaur-D]]}} | {{dts|25 February 1969}} | December 23, 1970 (decommissioned) | Mars | Flyby | {{yes|{{hs|4}}Successful}} | rowspan="2" | Dual mission |- | [[Mariner 7]] <small>(Mariner Mars 69B)</small> | 413 kg<BR>(908 lb) | [[Atlas-Centaur|Atlas SLV-3C Centaur-D]] | {{dts|27 March 1969}} |December 28, 1970 (decommissioned) | Mars | Flyby | {{yes|{{hs|4}}Successful}} |- | [[Mariner 8]] <small>(Mariner-H)</small> | | [[Atlas-Centaur|Atlas SLV-3C Centaur-D]] | {{dts|9 May 1971}} | {{dts|9 May 1971}}<br>(destroyed) | Mars | Orbiter | {{no|{{hs|0}}Launch failure}} | 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-Centaur|Atlas SLV-3C Centaur-D]] | {{dts|30 May 1971}} | {{dts|27 October 1972}}<ref name=Pyle2012-M9> {{cite book |last=Pyle|first=Rod |title=Destination Mars |year=2012 |publisher=[[Prometheus Books]] |isbn=978-1-61614-589-7}}</ref> | Mars | Orbiter | {{yes|{{hs|4}}Successful}}<ref name=Pyle2012-M9/> | First orbiter of Mars. Entered orbit on 14 November 1971, deactivated 516 days later. A copy of Mariner 8. |- | [[Mariner 10]] <small>(Mariner-J)</small> | 433 kg<BR>(952 lb) | {{hs|Atlas-Centaur D1A}}[[Atlas-Centaur|Atlas SLV-3D Centaur-D1A]] | {{dts|3 November 1973}} | {{dts|24 March 1975}}<ref>{{cite web|title=Mariner 10|url=http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/profile.cfm?MCode=Mariner_10&Display=ReadMore|access-date=2 February 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140219012506/http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/profile.cfm?MCode=Mariner_10&Display=ReadMore|archive-date=19 February 2014}}</ref> | Venus, [[Mercury (planet)|Mercury]] | Flyby | {{yes|{{hs|4}}Successful}} | First flyby of Mercury and the last Mariner probe launched{{refn|group=note|An eleventh spacecraft, the Mariner 10 [[flight spare]], was constructed but did not fly. NASA gave it to the [[Smithsonian Institution]] in 1982, which currently displays it in the Time and Navigation exhibition at the [[National Air and Space Museum]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.si.edu/object/spacecraft-mariner-10-flight-spare:nasm_A19830006000 |title=Spacecraft, Mariner 10, Flight Spare |author=<!--Not stated--> |access-date=2020-10-18 }}</ref>}} |- |}
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