Astronomy Cast Ep. 200: The Mariner Program

By Nancy Atkinson - September 29, 2010 08:07 AM UTC | Missions

Congratulations to Fraser Cain and Dr. Pamela Gay on Astronomy Cast podcast #200! This week's podcast is about the Mariner program, the first interplanetary series of missions. These successful spacecraft visited Mercury, Venus, and Mars, and laid the groundwork for the US missions to the outer planets. Let’s take a look at the program and their incredible accomplishments.

Click here to download the episode

The Mariner Program – Show notes and transcript

Or subscribe to: astronomycast.com/podcast.xml with your podcatching software.

Our latest video — free on Patreon Swarming The Rings of Saturn With Tiny Probes, NIAC 2026 The extended edition: ad-free, with extra content. Free to watch — no account needed. ▶ Watch it free

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com