History
After the flagship multi-billion dollar missions of the 1970s, in the 1980s NASA was looking for a new, more affordable direction for the 1990s and beyond. Two projects were conceived by NASA's Solar System Exploration Committee in 1983, the Planetary Observer program and Mariner Mark II. The Observer program, starting with Mars Observer, was envisioned as a series of low-cost missions to the inner solar system, based on commercial Earth satellites. The Mariner Mark II, on the other hand, was to be a series of large spacecraft for the exploration of the outer solar system.
The first Planetary Observer spacecraft to be approved was Mars Observer, in 1985. Lunar Observer (LO), proposed for a 1997 launch, would have been sent into a long-term lunar orbit at 60 miles above the moon's poles. The Mercury Observer (MO) was also proposed for a 1997 launch. However, Congressionally imposed reductions to FY 1992-93 funding requirements forced NASA to terminate the Planetary Observer program, with just Mars Observer funded.
Read more about this topic: Planetary Observer Program
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