JPL "spare" planetary program, in the 70's.

[Archibald]

As said in the title... all the robotic planetary missions launched in the 70's left a spare spacecraft on the ground (and later, at the NASM aerospace museum).
There were good reasons for that
- providing spares
- ground testing
- backup in case of failures (Mariner 8...)

Soooo

...by 1978 the JPL had (in storage) nothing less than
- a second Mariner 10
- a third Voyager
- a third Viking
- a third Helios solar probe
- a third Pioneer probe (Pioneer H)

Five diverse probes.

And for complex reasons, they launched NONE of these spacecraft. Yet this did not prevent them from studying pretty cool missions for them - before they went to the NASM aerospace museum.

With so many spare probes, you could nearly got a complete solar system exploration program "off the shelf" to fill the gap(s) of the 80's.

- The spare Mariner 10 could have gone to the Moon or Venus or Mercury.

- The third Voyager could have gone to Uranus, Neptune, or Pluto. Delivering an atmospheric probe to the gas giants.

- The third Pioneer could have gone to Jupiter and then, out-of-the-ecliptic. Alternatively, a Jupiter orbiter before Galileo.

- The third Helios was touted for a comet Encke flyby

- The third Viking: what might-have-been
a) Mars polar caps
b) Mars Sample Return
c) Mars rover
d) Phobos and Deimos
e) lunar orbit & surface

thoughts ?

 

[Archibald]

I'm also wondering about Pioneer Venus. I should check whether this one, too, left a spare craft in storage or museum...

 

[Hobbes]

IIRC Voyager 3 was cannibalized - some of its parts ended up on Voyager 1 or 2. This may have happened to others as well.

 

[lordroel]

As said in the title... all the robotic planetary missions launched in the 70's left a spare spacecraft on the ground (and later, at the NASM aerospace museum).
There were good reasons for that
- providing spares
- ground testing
- backup in case of failures (Mariner 8...)

Soooo

...by 1978 the JPL had (in storage) no less than
- a second Mariner 10
- a third Voyager
- a third Viking
- a third Helios solar probe
- a third Pioneer probe (Pioneer H)

And for complex reasons, they launched NONE of these spacecraft. Yet this did not prevent them from studying pretty cool missions for them - before they went to the NASM aerospace museum.

With so many spare probes, you could nearly got a complete solar system exploration program "off the shelf" to fill the gap(s) of the 80's.

- The spare Mariner 10 could have gone to the Moon or Venus or Mercury.

- The third Voyager could have gone to Uranus, Neptune, or Pluto. Delivering an atmospheric probe to the gas giants.

- The third Pioneer could have gone to Jupiter and then, out-of-the-ecliptic. Alternatively, a Jupiter orbiter before Galileo.

- The third Helios was touted for a comet Encke flyby

- The third Viking nearly delivered a rover to Mars. Could have gone to the polar caps, Phobos, Deimos...

thoughts ?

Well if they launch those, then they would need a reserve for them as well i asume.

 

[Archibald]

Nope, it is rather an opportunistic move. The spacecraft are already build and in storage - better to launch them than send them in museums...

 

[NOMISYRRUC]

Well if they launch those, then they would need a reserve for them as well i asume.

Nope, it is rather an opportunistic move. The spacecraft are already build and in storage - better to launch them than send them in museums...

There is a precedent for this. The spare probe for the Mariner 3/4 mission to Mars was sent to Venus as Mariner 5.