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Mars 1 / 2MV-4
Credit - NASA
Manufacturer's Designation: 2MV-4. Class: Planetary. Type: Mars Flyby. Destination: Mars. Nation: Russia. Manufacturer: Korolev.

Mars probe intended to photograph Mars on a flyby trajectory. It carried various scientific and communications equipment including a magnetometer probe, a high-gain antenna, an omnidirectional antenna, a semi-directional antenna, and photographic equipment.

Typical orbit: 180 km x 249 km at 65 degrees inclination. Mass: 894 kg (1,970 lb). Main Engine: KDU-414.

Mars 2MV-4 Chronology
  • 1962 October 24 - Sputnik 22 - Program: Mars. Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Complex: LC1. Launch Vehicle: Soyuz. FAILURE: 16 seconds after ignition of Stage 4, Block L's S1.5400A1 engine exploded. A lubricant leak resulted in the jamming of a shaft in the turbopump gearbox and break up of the turbine. Mass: 6,500 kg (14,300 lb). Perigee: 202 km (125 mi). Apogee: 260 km (160 mi). Inclination: 65.10 deg. Period: 89.10 min.
    Mars probe intended to photograph Mars on a flyby trajectory. The spacecraft broke into many pieces, some of which apparently remained in Earth orbit for a few days. This occurred during the Cuban missile crisis and was picked up by U.S. military radar installations, who originally feared it might by the start of a Soviet nuclear attack.

  • 1962 November 1 - Mars 1 - Program: Mars. Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Complex: LC1. Launch Vehicle: Soyuz. Mass: 894 kg (1,970 lb).
    Mars probe intended to photograph Mars on a flyby trajectory. Launched from Sputnik 23 in a 157 x 238 km, 65 degree parking orbit. Sixty-one radio transmissions were held in which a large amount of data was collected. On March 21, 1963, when the spacecraft was at a distance of 106 million km communications ceased, possibly due to a malfunction in the spacecraft orientation system. Mars 1 closest approach to Mars occurred on June 19, 1963 at a distance of approximately 193,000 km, after which the spacecraft entered a heliocentric orbit. Announced mission: Prolonged exploration of outer space during flight to the planet Mars; establishment of inter-planetary radio communications; photgraphing of the planet Mars and subsquent radio-transmission to Earth of the photographs of the surface of Mars thus obtained.

Bibliography:

  • McDowell, Jonathan, Jonathan's Space Home Page (launch records), Harvard University, 1997-present. Web Address when accessed: http://www.planet4589.org/jsr.html.
  • JPL Mission and Spacecraft Library, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 1997. Web Address when accessed: http://msl.jpl.nasa.gov/home.html.
  • Varfolomyev, Timothy, Spaceflight, "Soviet Rocketry that Conquered Space - Part 5", 1998, Volume 40, page 85.
  • Novosti Kosmonavtiki, "Otmenenniy Start "Molniya-M"", 1997, Issue 1, page 29.
  • Novosti Kosmonavtiki, "Na Mars!", 1996, Issue 20, page 53.
  • National Space Science Center Planetary Page, As of 19 February 1999.. Web Address when accessed: http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/planetary_home.html.
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© Mark Wade, 1997 - 2008 except where otherwise noted.