Mars probe program
Encyclopedia
The Mars program was a series of unmanned spacecraft launched by the Soviet Union
between 1960 and 1973. The spacecraft were intended to explore
Mars
, and included flyby probes, landers
and orbiter
s.
Early Mars spacecraft were small, and launched by Molniya
rockets. Starting with two failures in 1969, the heavier Proton-K
rocket was used to launch larger 5 tonne spacecraft, consisting of an orbiter and a lander to Mars. The orbiter bus design was likely somewhat rushed into service and immature, considering that it performed very reliably in the Venera variant after 1975. This reliability problem was common to much Soviet space hardware from the late 1960s and early 1970s and was largely corrected with a deliberate policy, implemented in the mid-1970s, of consolidating (or "debugging") existing designs rather than introducing new ones.
In addition to the Mars program, the Soviet Union also sent a probe to Mars as part of the Zond program
; Zond 2
, however it failed en route. Two more spacecraft were sent during the Fobos program. In 1996, Russia
launched Mars 96
, its first interplanetary mission since the dissolution of the Soviet Union
, however it failed to depart Earth orbit.
The first Soviet attempts to send a probe to Mars were the two Mars 1M spacecraft, which each had a mass of about 650 kg. Both were launched in 1960 and failed to achieve orbit. The spacecraft were dubbed Marsnik by the Western media.
was launched in 1962 but failed en route to Mars. Two other Soviet launches at around the same time, Mars 2MV-4 No.1 and Mars 2MV-3 No.1 were 900 kilograms (1,984.2 lb) spacecraft, however both failed to leave Earth orbit due to problems with the upper stages of their carrier rockets.
rockets, and consisted of orbiters and landers similar to late Venera
, and Vega
spacecraft.
and Mars 3
missions consisted of identical spacecraft, each with an orbiter and an attached lander, which became the first spacecraft to reach the surface of Mars.
The orbiters' primary scientific objectives were to image the Martian surface and clouds, determine the temperature on Mars, study the topography, composition and physical properties of the surface, measure properties of the atmosphere, monitor the solar wind
and the interplanetary and Martian magnetic field
s, and act as communications relays to send signals from the landers to Earth.
Mars 2 released the descent module 4.5 hours before reaching Mars on November 27, 1971. The descent module entered the Martian atmosphere at roughly 6.0 km/s at a steeper angle than planned. The descent system malfunctioned and the lander crashed at 45°S 30°W, delivering the Soviet Union coat of arms to the surface. Meanwhile, the orbiter engine performed a burn to put the spacecraft into a 1380 x 24,940 km, 18 hour orbit about Mars with an inclination of 48.9 degrees. Scientific instruments were generally turned on for about 30 minutes near periapsis.
Mars 3's descent module was released at 09:14 UT on December 2, 1971, 4 hours 35 minutes before reaching Mars. The descent module entered the Martian atmosphere at roughly 5.7 km/s. Through aerodynamic braking, parachute
s, and retrorocket
s, the lander achieved a soft landing at 45°S 158°W and began operations. However, after 20 seconds the instruments stopped working for unknown reasons, perhaps as a result of the massive surface dust storms raging at the time of landing. Mars 3 lander still managed to transmit a portion of the first picture of Martian surface. Meanwhile, the orbiter had suffered from a partial loss of fuel and did not have enough to put itself into a planned 25 hour orbit. The engine instead performed a truncated burn to put the spacecraft into a long 12 day, 19 hour period orbit about Mars with an inclination thought to be similar to that of Mars 2 (48.9 degrees).
Both landers had a small Mars 'rover
' on board, which would move across the surface on skis while connected to the lander with a 15-meter umbilical. Two small metal rods were used for autonomous obstacle avoidance, as radio signals from Earth would take too long to drive the rovers using remote control. Each rover had both a densitometer and a dynamic penetrometer, to test the density and the bearing strength of the soil. Because of the demise of the landers, neither rover saw action.
The Mars 2 and 3 orbiters sent back a large volume of data covering the period from December 1971 to March 1972, although transmissions continued through August. It was announced that Mars 2 and 3 had completed their missions by August 22, 1972, after 362 orbits completed by Mars 2 and 20 orbits by Mars 3. The probes sent back a total of 60 pictures. The images and data enabled creation of surface relief maps, and gave information on the Martian gravity and magnetic field
s.
, thereby beating the American Mariner 8
and Mariner 9
spacecraft.
The Mars 4 and Mars 5 orbiters, launched in 1973, were designed to orbit Mars and return information on the composition, structure, and properties of the Martian atmosphere and surface. The spacecraft were also designed to act as communications links to the Mars 6 and 7 landers. Like earlier heavy spacecraft, they were launched by Proton-K rockets.
The Mars 4 orbiter reached Mars on February 10, 1974. Due to a flaw in the computer chip which resulted in degradation of the chip during the voyage to Mars, the retro-rockets designed to slow the craft into Mars orbit did not fire, and Mars 4 flew by the planet at a range of 2200 km. It returned one swath of pictures and some radio occultation data which constituted the first detection of the nightside ionosphere
on Mars. It continued to return interplanetary data from solar orbit after the flyby.
Mars 5 reached Mars on February 12, 1974 at 15:45 UT and was inserted into an elliptical 1755 by 32,555 km, 24 h 53 min orbit with an inclination of 35.3 degrees. Nearly synchronized with the rotation of the planet, its two phototelevision cameras could be commanded to take 12 pictures during each close approach. The Vega camera used a wide area 52mm lens with color filters, the Zulfar camera used a telescopic 350mm lens and long-pass orange filter. Images were transmitted in a rapid 220-line mode, and then selected pictures were retransmitted at 880 or 1760 line resolution. Mars 5 collected data for 22 orbits until a loss of pressurization in the transmitter housing ended the mission. About 60 images were returned over a nine day period showing swaths of the area south of Valles Marineris
, from 5°N 330°W to 20°S 130°W.
. During this time the craft was collecting data and transmitting it directly to the bus for immediate relay to Earth. Contact with the descent module was lost at 09:11:05 UT in "direct proximity to the surface", probably either when the retrorockets fired or when it hit the surface at an estimated 61 m/s. Mars 6 landed at 23.90°S 19.42°W in the Margaritifer Terra
region of Mars. The landed mass was 635 kg. The descent module transmitted 224 seconds of data before transmissions ceased, the first data returned from the atmosphere of Mars
. Much of the data was unreadable due to a flaw in a computer chip which led to degradation of the system during its journey to Mars.
s. The N1 failed on all four of its test flights, and was never used to launch any Mars spacecraft.
.
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
between 1960 and 1973. The spacecraft were intended to explore
Exploration of Mars
The exploration of Mars has been an important part of the space exploration programs of the Soviet Union, the United States, Europe, and Japan. Dozens of robotic spacecraft, including orbiters, landers, and rovers, have been launched toward Mars since the 1960s...
Mars
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
, and included flyby probes, landers
Lander (spacecraft)
A lander is a spacecraft which descends toward and comes to rest on the surface of an astronomical body. For bodies with atmospheres, the landing is called atmospheric reentry and the lander descends as a re-entry vehicle...
and orbiter
Orbiter
An orbiter is a space probe that orbits a planet.-Asteroids:*NEAR Shoemaker...
s.
Early Mars spacecraft were small, and launched by Molniya
Molniya (rocket)
Molniya 8K78 was a modification of the well-known R-7 Semyorka rocket and had four stages.This derivative of the original three stage Vostok rocket was especially designed to bring high flying satellites into orbit or to launch probes to other planets. The first launch of this rocket was on...
rockets. Starting with two failures in 1969, the heavier Proton-K
Proton-K
The Proton-K, also designated Proton 8K82K after its GRAU index, 8K82K, is a Russian, previously Soviet, carrier rocket derived from the earlier Proton. It was built by Khrunichev, and is launched from sites 81 and 200 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan...
rocket was used to launch larger 5 tonne spacecraft, consisting of an orbiter and a lander to Mars. The orbiter bus design was likely somewhat rushed into service and immature, considering that it performed very reliably in the Venera variant after 1975. This reliability problem was common to much Soviet space hardware from the late 1960s and early 1970s and was largely corrected with a deliberate policy, implemented in the mid-1970s, of consolidating (or "debugging") existing designs rather than introducing new ones.
In addition to the Mars program, the Soviet Union also sent a probe to Mars as part of the Zond program
Zond program
Zond was the name given to two distinct series of Soviet unmanned space program undertaken from 1964 to 1970. The first series based on 3MV planetary probe was intended to gather information about nearby planets...
; Zond 2
Zond 2
Zond 2, a member of the Soviet Zond program, was the fifth Soviet spacecraft to attempt a flyby of Mars. Zond-2 carried a phototelevision camera of the same type later used to photograph the Moon on Zond 3. The camera system also included two ultraviolet spectrometers...
, however it failed en route. Two more spacecraft were sent during the Fobos program. In 1996, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
launched Mars 96
Mars 96
Mars 96 was a failed Mars mission launched in 1996 to investigate Mars by the Russian Space Forces and not directly related to the Soviet Mars probe program of the same name. After failure of the second fourth-stage burn, the probe assembly re-entered the Earth's atmosphere, breaking up over a...
, its first interplanetary mission since the dissolution of the Soviet Union
Dissolution of the Soviet Union
The dissolution of the Soviet Union was the disintegration of the federal political structures and central government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , resulting in the independence of all fifteen republics of the Soviet Union between March 11, 1990 and December 25, 1991...
, however it failed to depart Earth orbit.
Mars 1M
Mars 3MV
Mars 1Mars 1
Mars 1, also known as 1962 Beta Nu 1, Mars 2MV-4 and Sputnik 23, was an automatic interplanetary station launched in the direction of Mars on November 1, 1962, the first of the Soviet Mars probe program, with the intent of flying by the planet at a distance of about 11,000 km...
was launched in 1962 but failed en route to Mars. Two other Soviet launches at around the same time, Mars 2MV-4 No.1 and Mars 2MV-3 No.1 were 900 kilograms (1,984.2 lb) spacecraft, however both failed to leave Earth orbit due to problems with the upper stages of their carrier rockets.
Mars 2M
Mars 2M No.521 and Mars 2M No.522, known in the West as Mars 1969A and B, were heavier spacecraft with masses of 5 tonnes (4.9 LT). They were launched by Proton-KProton-K
The Proton-K, also designated Proton 8K82K after its GRAU index, 8K82K, is a Russian, previously Soviet, carrier rocket derived from the earlier Proton. It was built by Khrunichev, and is launched from sites 81 and 200 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan...
rockets, and consisted of orbiters and landers similar to late Venera
Venera
The Venera series probes were developed by the Soviet Union between 1961 and 1984 to gather data from Venus, Venera being the Russian name for Venus...
, and Vega
Vega program
The Vega program was a series of Venus missions which also took advantage of the appearance of Comet Halley in 1986. Vega 1 and Vega 2 were unmanned spacecraft launched in a cooperative effort among the Soviet Union and Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, the German Democratic Republic, Poland,...
spacecraft.
Mars 4M
The Mars 4M spacecraft; Mars 2Mars 2
The Mars program was a series of Mars unmanned landers and orbiters launched by the Soviet Union in the early 1970s.The Mars 2 and Mars 3 missions consisted of identical spacecraft, each with an orbiter and an attached lander; they were the first human artifacts to impact the surface of Mars...
and Mars 3
Mars 3
The Mars 3 was an unmanned space probe of the Mars program, a series of unmanned Mars landers and orbiters launched by the Soviet Union in the early 1970s....
missions consisted of identical spacecraft, each with an orbiter and an attached lander, which became the first spacecraft to reach the surface of Mars.
The orbiters' primary scientific objectives were to image the Martian surface and clouds, determine the temperature on Mars, study the topography, composition and physical properties of the surface, measure properties of the atmosphere, monitor the solar wind
Solar wind
The solar wind is a stream of charged particles ejected from the upper atmosphere of the Sun. It mostly consists of electrons and protons with energies usually between 1.5 and 10 keV. The stream of particles varies in temperature and speed over time...
and the interplanetary and Martian magnetic field
Magnetic field
A magnetic field is a mathematical description of the magnetic influence of electric currents and magnetic materials. The magnetic field at any given point is specified by both a direction and a magnitude ; as such it is a vector field.Technically, a magnetic field is a pseudo vector;...
s, and act as communications relays to send signals from the landers to Earth.
Mars 2
- Launch date/time:
- Mars 2: May 19, 1971 at 16:22:44 UTC
- Launch mass (including fuel):
- Combined: 4650 kg
- Orbiter: 3440 kg
- Lander: 1210 kg
- On-orbit dry mass: 2265 kg
- Dimensions: 4.1 meters tall, 2 meters across (5.9 meters across with solar panels deployed)
Mars 2 released the descent module 4.5 hours before reaching Mars on November 27, 1971. The descent module entered the Martian atmosphere at roughly 6.0 km/s at a steeper angle than planned. The descent system malfunctioned and the lander crashed at 45°S 30°W, delivering the Soviet Union coat of arms to the surface. Meanwhile, the orbiter engine performed a burn to put the spacecraft into a 1380 x 24,940 km, 18 hour orbit about Mars with an inclination of 48.9 degrees. Scientific instruments were generally turned on for about 30 minutes near periapsis.
Mars 3
- Launch date/time:
- Mars 3: May 28, 1971 at 15:26:30 UTC
- Launch mass (including fuel):
- Combined: 4650 kg
- Orbiter: 3440 kg
- Lander: 1210 kg
- On-orbit dry mass: 2265 kg
- Dimensions: 4.1 meters tall, 2 meters across (5.9 meters across with solar panels deployed)
Mars 3's descent module was released at 09:14 UT on December 2, 1971, 4 hours 35 minutes before reaching Mars. The descent module entered the Martian atmosphere at roughly 5.7 km/s. Through aerodynamic braking, parachute
Parachute
A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag, or in the case of ram-air parachutes, aerodynamic lift. Parachutes are usually made out of light, strong cloth, originally silk, now most commonly nylon...
s, and retrorocket
Retrorocket
A retrorocket is a rocket engine providing thrust opposing the motion of a spacecraft, thereby causing it to decelerate.-History:...
s, the lander achieved a soft landing at 45°S 158°W and began operations. However, after 20 seconds the instruments stopped working for unknown reasons, perhaps as a result of the massive surface dust storms raging at the time of landing. Mars 3 lander still managed to transmit a portion of the first picture of Martian surface. Meanwhile, the orbiter had suffered from a partial loss of fuel and did not have enough to put itself into a planned 25 hour orbit. The engine instead performed a truncated burn to put the spacecraft into a long 12 day, 19 hour period orbit about Mars with an inclination thought to be similar to that of Mars 2 (48.9 degrees).
Both landers had a small Mars 'rover
Rover (space exploration)
A rover is a space exploration vehicle designed to move across the surface of a planet or other astronomical body. Some rovers have been designed to transport members of a human spaceflight crew; others have been partially or fully autonomous robots...
' on board, which would move across the surface on skis while connected to the lander with a 15-meter umbilical. Two small metal rods were used for autonomous obstacle avoidance, as radio signals from Earth would take too long to drive the rovers using remote control. Each rover had both a densitometer and a dynamic penetrometer, to test the density and the bearing strength of the soil. Because of the demise of the landers, neither rover saw action.
The Mars 2 and 3 orbiters sent back a large volume of data covering the period from December 1971 to March 1972, although transmissions continued through August. It was announced that Mars 2 and 3 had completed their missions by August 22, 1972, after 362 orbits completed by Mars 2 and 20 orbits by Mars 3. The probes sent back a total of 60 pictures. The images and data enabled creation of surface relief maps, and gave information on the Martian gravity and magnetic field
Magnetic field
A magnetic field is a mathematical description of the magnetic influence of electric currents and magnetic materials. The magnetic field at any given point is specified by both a direction and a magnitude ; as such it is a vector field.Technically, a magnetic field is a pseudo vector;...
s.
Mars 3MS
Kosmos 419 was launched on May 5, 1971. It consisted of only an orbiter, and was intended to become the first spacecraft to enter areocentric orbitAreocentric orbit
An areocentric orbit is an orbit around the planet Mars. The Moon, by similarity, is in a geocentric orbit around Earth.The areo- prefix is derived from the ancient Greek word Ares which is the personification of the planet Mars in Greek mythology....
, thereby beating the American Mariner 8
Mariner 8
Mariner-H, also commonly known as Mariner 8, was part of the Mariner Mars 71 project. It was intended to go into Mars orbit and return images and data.-Mission description:...
and Mariner 9
Mariner 9
Mariner 9 was a NASA space orbiter that helped in the exploration of Mars and was part of the Mariner program. Mariner 9 was launched toward Mars on May 30, 1971 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and reached the planet on November 13 of the same year, becoming the first spacecraft to orbit...
spacecraft.
The Mars 4 and Mars 5 orbiters, launched in 1973, were designed to orbit Mars and return information on the composition, structure, and properties of the Martian atmosphere and surface. The spacecraft were also designed to act as communications links to the Mars 6 and 7 landers. Like earlier heavy spacecraft, they were launched by Proton-K rockets.
Mars 4
- Launch date/time:
- Mars 4: July 21, 1973 at 19:30:59 UTC
- On-orbit mass:
- Dry: 2270 kg
- Fully fuelled: 3440 kg
The Mars 4 orbiter reached Mars on February 10, 1974. Due to a flaw in the computer chip which resulted in degradation of the chip during the voyage to Mars, the retro-rockets designed to slow the craft into Mars orbit did not fire, and Mars 4 flew by the planet at a range of 2200 km. It returned one swath of pictures and some radio occultation data which constituted the first detection of the nightside ionosphere
Ionosphere
The ionosphere is a part of the upper atmosphere, comprising portions of the mesosphere, thermosphere and exosphere, distinguished because it is ionized by solar radiation. It plays an important part in atmospheric electricity and forms the inner edge of the magnetosphere...
on Mars. It continued to return interplanetary data from solar orbit after the flyby.
Mars 5
- Launch date/time:
- Mars 5: July 25, 1973 at 18:55:48 UTC
- On-orbit mass:
- Dry: 2270 kg
- Fully fuelled: 3440 kg
Mars 5 reached Mars on February 12, 1974 at 15:45 UT and was inserted into an elliptical 1755 by 32,555 km, 24 h 53 min orbit with an inclination of 35.3 degrees. Nearly synchronized with the rotation of the planet, its two phototelevision cameras could be commanded to take 12 pictures during each close approach. The Vega camera used a wide area 52mm lens with color filters, the Zulfar camera used a telescopic 350mm lens and long-pass orange filter. Images were transmitted in a rapid 220-line mode, and then selected pictures were retransmitted at 880 or 1760 line resolution. Mars 5 collected data for 22 orbits until a loss of pressurization in the transmitter housing ended the mission. About 60 images were returned over a nine day period showing swaths of the area south of Valles Marineris
Valles Marineris
Valles Marineris is a system of canyons that runs along the Martian surface east of the Tharsis region...
, from 5°N 330°W to 20°S 130°W.
Mars 3MP
The 1973 Mars launch window was inefficient and thus the Proton could not deliver sufficient mass to the necessary trajectory to reach Mars, as had been possible in 1971. To resolve this problem, two landers were launched with orbiter type buses, but without fuel to enter orbit. The Mars 4 and 5 orbiters, which had been launched separately, were used to relay communications, and to complete mission objectives which would have been completed by orbiters launched with the Mars 6 and 7 spacecraft had they been flown.Mars 6
Mars 6 successfully lifted off on August 5, 1973, into an intermediate Earth orbit on a Proton SL-12/D-1-e booster and then launched into a Mars transfer trajectory. Total fueled launch mass of the lander and bus was 3260 kg. It reached Mars on March 12, 1974. The descent module separated from the bus at a distance of 48,000 km from Mars. The bus continued on into a heliocentric orbit after passing within 1600 km of Mars. The descent module entered the atmosphere at 09:05:53 UT at a speed of 5.6 km/s. The parachute opened at 09:08:32 UT after the module had slowed its speed to 600 m/s by aerobrakingAerobraking
Aerobraking is a spaceflight maneuver that reduces the high point of an elliptical orbit by flying the vehicle through the atmosphere at the low point of the orbit . The resulting drag slows the spacecraft...
. During this time the craft was collecting data and transmitting it directly to the bus for immediate relay to Earth. Contact with the descent module was lost at 09:11:05 UT in "direct proximity to the surface", probably either when the retrorockets fired or when it hit the surface at an estimated 61 m/s. Mars 6 landed at 23.90°S 19.42°W in the Margaritifer Terra
Margaritifer Terra
Margaritifer Terra is an ancient, heavily cratered region of Mars. It is centered just south of the Martian equator at and covers 2600 km at its widest extent. The area reveals "chaos terrain", outflow channels, and alluvial plains that are indicative of massive flooding. Wind erosion patterns are...
region of Mars. The landed mass was 635 kg. The descent module transmitted 224 seconds of data before transmissions ceased, the first data returned from the atmosphere of Mars
Atmosphere of Mars
The atmosphere of Mars is relatively thin and is composed mostly of carbon dioxide . There has been interest in studying its composition since the detection of trace amounts of methane, which may indicate the presence of life on Mars, but may also be produced by a geochemical process, volcanic or...
. Much of the data was unreadable due to a flaw in a computer chip which led to degradation of the system during its journey to Mars.
Mars 7
Mars 7 successfully lifted off on August 9, 1973, into an intermediate Earth orbit on a Proton SL-12/D-1-e booster and then launched into a Mars transfer trajectory. Total fueled launch mass of the lander and bus was 3260 kg. It reached Mars on March 9, 1974. Due to a problem in the operation of one of the on-board systems (attitude control or retro-rockets) the landing probe separated prematurely (4 hours before encounter) and missed the planet by 1300 km. The early separation was probably due to a computer chip error which resulted from degradation of the systems during the trip to Mars. The intended landing site was 50°S 28°W. The lander and bus continued on into heliocentric orbits.Mars 4NM and 5NM
The Mars 4NM and Mars 5NM projects would have seen heavier spacecraft launched by N1 rockets. They would have deployed heavy Marsokhod rovers onto the surface, and conducted sample return missionSample return mission
A sample return mission is a spacecraft mission with the goal of returning tangible samples from an extraterrestrial location to Earth for analysis. Sample return missions may bring back merely atoms and molecules or a deposit of complex compounds such as dirt and rocks...
s. The N1 failed on all four of its test flights, and was never used to launch any Mars spacecraft.
Mars 5M
Mars 5M (Mars 79) was a sample return mission developed in 1977 to be double launched in 1979 by Proton launchers and then docked in Earth orbit for a joint flight of orbital and return modules to Mars. The project was canceled due to the low reliability of the Igla automatic docking systemIgla (spacecraft docking system)
The IGLA docking system was a Russian radio telemetry system for automated docking of Soyuz . The first prototypes were made in late 1965. On 30 October 1967, the first automated docking of Soyuz unmanned spacecraft took place.-Problems:...
.
External links
- NSSDC Mars 5 page
- catalog of Soviet Mars images
- NASA's mars probe website
- Mars Series (USSR) Profile by NASA's Solar System Exploration
- Ted Stryk's page on the Mars 4-7 probes
- TASS notice on the Mars-3 landing (in Russian) (WikisourceWikisourceWikisource is an online digital library of free content textual sources on a wiki, operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. Its aims are to host all forms of free text, in many languages, and translations. Originally conceived as an archive to store useful or important historical texts, it has...
) - [ftp://ftp.seds.org/pub/info/newsletters/ejasa/1989/jasa8910.txt "The Rocky Soviet Road to Mars" by Larry Klaes - EJASA October, 1989]
- "The Difficult Road to Mars" By V. G. Perminov