StarDate, Volume 40, Number 6, November/December 2012 Page: 6
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half-century after Mariner 2's tri-
umph, spacecraft buzz around the
worlds of the solar system like honey-
bees in a spring meadow. Probes are
orbiting Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn,
and the Moon, with a pair of rovers
scooting along the Martian surface.
Other missions are en route to Jupi-
ter, Pluto, an asteroid, and a comet.
And the twin Voyagers, which were
launched just 15 years after Mariner,
are nearing the edge of the solar system
more than two decades after complet-
ing a "grand tour" of the four giant
outer planets.
"We've come a long way - from
nothing, to having spacecraft leaving
the solar system," says Mark Skyes,
director of the Planetary Science In-
stitute in Tucson. "And we're not
done. The thing about science is, the
more you learn, the more questions
you have. We're just cracking the door
open.
Mariner 2 provided the first peek
through that door, although like all
the audacious steps of the early space
program, it was motivated less by sci-
ence than by national pride. By early
1960, the Soviet Union had launched
the first Earth satellite, snapped the
first picture of the far side of the Moon,
and sent the first living creature into
orbit (the unfortunate pooch Laika).
By contrast, most American space mis-
sions - conducted in full view of the
world - seemed to end with a big ex-
plosion or an early splash in the ocean.
Undeterred by the fiery crashes,
though, NASA was already plan-
ning missions to the Moon, Mars, and
Venus - space spectaculars designed
to assert American dominance.
"The early missions were driven
by national security, national status
needs, which was essential to Con-
gress passing huge budgets," says Sykes.
"The public was very much excited
by this, but not just because we were
going to beat the Russians - because
it was like taming the Old West. Space
was a place where people were going to
live and work in the future."
The first of the covered wagons for
this grand expansion were being de-
6 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2012veloped for Project Mariner. The first
was scheduled to roll toward Venus in
1962, with another heading for Mars
in 1964. By mid-1961, however, it
was clear that the booster intended to
launch the Venus mission wouldn't be
ready in time, so the plans for a half-ton
spacecraft were scrapped and new ones
drafted for two stripped-down models,
originally designated Mariner R.
"We got word in September, with
launch [of both spacecraft] scheduled
for the next August," says Edward J.
Smith, a planetary scientist at the Jet
Propulsion Laboratory who was on the
science team for one of the Mariner in-
struments. "It was a really tight sched-
ule, so everything was done in a rush.
There was very little time to buildthe instruments or test them on the
spacecraft. Everybody was conscious of
the fact that we were in a competition
with the Russians, but I personally
never worried about that - I was try-
ing to get my job done."
With so little time to prepare, engi-
neers modeled the Mariners after the
Ranger probes that were being devel-
oped for flights to the Moon (hence
the "R" in Mariner R). Early test
models consisted of an open structural
framework, a cabinet containing the
electronics, and a pair of solar panels
for converting sunlight to electricity.
Confidence took an early hit when
the first two Rangers, launched in late
1961, were lofted into useless orbits by
the same booster that would propel the
Mariners. "I didn't think the
A prospects were all that good,"Artist's concept of
Mariner 2 en route
to Venus (above).
Right: Mariner 1 heads
skyward; a few minutes
later it was scattered
across the Atlantic
Ocean. Far right: JPL
scientists display
part of the mission's
scientific bounty in the
form of a [ointot.
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McDonald Observatory. StarDate, Volume 40, Number 6, November/December 2012, periodical, November 2012; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth653590/m1/6/: accessed May 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.