Mariner Mark II
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Mariner Mark II was
Summary
After the
The Observer program, starting with the
Mariner Mark II spacecraft were to use common design, hardware and software solutions, much of it derived from previous missions such as Voyager and Galileo as well as select new technologies, such as advanced gyroscopes, all with the aim of cutting costs. It was hoped that this new approach would reduce the mission costs to about $400 million each, about half the price of Galileo.
The first two missions of the project were to be a mission to Saturn and its moon Titan, the
Other planned Mariner Mark II-based spacecraft were an
However, congressionally imposed reductions to FY 1992–93 funding requirements forced NASA to terminate the CRAF mission and to delay the Cassini launch from April 1996 to October 1997. In order to save it, NASA was forced to significantly redesign Cassini to reduce the total program cost, mass and power requirements.
NASA has had to replace the Mariner Mark II program with the lower-cost Discovery Program.
See also
External links
- "Assessment of CRAF and Cassini missions" Archived 2009-03-18 at the National Academy of Sciences, 1988
- "On the CRAF/Cassini Mission" Archived 2009-03-18 at the National Academy of Sciences, 1992
- "Exploring the Trans-Neptunian Solar System" Archived 2009-03-18 at the Wayback Machine National Academy of Sciences