How was the name of the Mariner Program chosen?
Why was it called the Mariner Program instead of the [something else] Program?
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In May 1960-at the suggestion of Edgar M. Cortright, Assistant Director of Lunar and Planetary Programs-NASA adopted a system of naming its space probes. Names of lunar probes were patterned after land exploration activities (the name "Pioneer," designating the early series of lunar and related space probes, was already in use). The names of planetary mission probes were patterned after nautical terms, to convey "the impression of travel to great distances and remote lands." Isolated missions to investigate the space environment were "assigned the name of the mission group of which they are most nearly a part."3 This 1960 decision was the basis for naming Mariner, Ranger, Surveyor, and Viking probes.