Mars 1M No.1

Mars 1M No.1, designated ''Mars 1960A'' by NASA analysts and dubbed ''Marsnik 1'' by the Western media, was the first spacecraft launched as part of the Soviet Union's Mars programme. A Mars 1M spacecraft, it was intended for conducting flight testing system and to study the interplanetary environment between Earth and Mars, however it was lost in a launch failure before it could begin its mission.

Background

The successes of Luna 2 and Luna 3 in 1959 raised Soviet morale especially as the United States had yet to make a successful lunar mission (and in fact would not until 1965). Two follow-ups to Luna 3 in April 1960 failed due to launch vehicle malfunctions, but program planners promised Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev further "space firsts", including missions to Mars and Venus. The 8K72 rocket used for the Luna missions was inadequate to send a payload to either planet, so an entirely new, more powerful R-7 derivative had to be developed. A ten month crash program resulted in the 8K78 booster, which incorporated an R-7 core with more powerful first stage engines and a bigger upper stage, the Blok I. It also included a fourth stage, the Blok L, which would be fired in a parking orbit and allow a more accurate trajectory than the direct ascent of the Luna missions.

The two Mars probes were delivered to the Baikonur Cosmodrome on 30 August 1960. Ground testing of the probes on 9 September resulted in multiple failures of various systems and components. Due to the numerous problems, it was impossible to launch during the optimal period of the Mars window in late September. The Blok L stage was also delayed but appeared to work well during preliminary ground tests. The 8K78 rocket was erected on LC-1 on 8 October. The optimal launch window would have been from 20 September to 25 September but the delay meant that the size of the payload had to be reduced. The camera and another instrument designed to test for the presence of life on Mars were removed due to malfunctions and weight limitations. The spacecraft would reach nearest approach to Mars on about 15 May 1961.

Launch

Mars 1M No.1 was the payload of the Molniya 8K78 rocket's maiden flight. The rocket, which had serial number L1-4M, was a new derivative of the R-7 series, with a Blok-I third stage replacing the Blok-E used on the Vostok, and a new Blok-L fourth stage. The vehicle lifted off from Site 1/5 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 14:27:49 UTC on 10 October 1960 and steered downrange smoothly. The new 8D74K engines in the first stage worked well and everything went according to plan through core stage burn.

Scientific Instruments

Source:
* Ultraviolet Spectrometer
* Radiation Detector
* Cosmic-Ray Detector
* Television Imaging System (Removed)
* Spectroreflectometer (Removed)

Television Imaging System and Spectroreflectometer were removed due to mass constraints.

End of mission

It was determined that during the course of the second stage of flight, resonant vibration in the third stage of the rocket caused the malfunction of a gyroscope and it damaged the attitude control system of the carrier rocket. Following this issue, the horizon sensor disconnected from the booster and the rocket descended from its normal flight path angle. As a consequence the rocket's third stage was commanded to stop ignition after five minutes of flight. During this stage the spacecraft flew to an altitude of before re-entry. Thereafter, the spacecraft re-entered and disintegrated in LEO and its debris fell over Siberia down range. It failed to achieve low Earth orbit.

See also

* List of missions to Mars

References

1960 in the Soviet Union
Spacecraft launched in 1960
Satellite launch failures
Mars program
Space accidents and incidents in the Soviet Union

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