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Marsnik 1 (USSR) launched Oct. 10, 1960, on an intended Mars flyby. The spacecraft did not reach Earth orbit.
Marsnik 2 (USSR) launched Oct. 14, 1960, on an intended Mars flyby. The spacecraft did not reach Earth orbit.
Sputnik 22 (USSR) launched Oct. 24, 1962, on an intended Mars flyby. The spacecraft achieved Earth orbit only.
Mars 1 (USSR) launched Nov. 1, 1962, on an intended Mars flyby. The spacecraft's radio failed at 65.9 million miles (106 million kilometers).
Sputnik 24 (USSR) launched Nov. 4, 1962, on an intended Mars flyby. The spacecraft achieved Earth orbit only.
Several more attempts were made between 1969 and 1971. Most failed to reach their target:
Mars 1969A (USSR) launched March 27, 1969. The Mars orbiter did not reach Earth orbit.
Mars 1969B (USSR) launched April 2, 1969. The Mars orbiter failed during launch.
Komos 419 (USSR) launched May 10, 1971. The Mars orbiter achieved Earth orbit only
The Soviet Union also made attempts to reach one of the moons of Mars, Phobos, in the 1980s. Both missions failed.
Phobos 1 launched July 7, 1988. The Mars orbiter and Phobos lander were lost in August 1988 en route to Mars.
Phobos 2 launched July 12, 1988. The Mars orbiter and Phobos lander were lost in March 1989 near Phobos.
originally posted by: WeRpeons
a reply to: wildespace
I give a huge amount of credit to the cosmonauts who are willing to sit on top of that powder keg. You must have nerves of steel to put yourself in possible danger at launch and during the journey to and from Mars.
USA, the European Space Agency, China and Russia are currently embroiled in a new age space race to become the first to get to Mars.
As it stands, NASA says that it would take around three months to get humans to the planet with the technology it is developing but Russia’s potential super-fast spaceship could get there in half that time.
Vladimir Putin's space agency, RosCosmos, originally started the project in 2010 but it has now been taken on by nuclear body Rosatom.
“The science goals of InSight are compelling, and the NASA and CNES plans to overcome the technical challenges are sound," said John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. "The quest to understand the interior of Mars has been a longstanding goal of planetary scientists for decades. We’re excited to be back on the path for a launch, now in 2018.”
ETA: Not to leave anyone out. But all that is up there are a lot of NASA crashed ships and a couple rovers.
originally posted by: WeRpeons
a reply to: Sargeras
My bad.
originally posted by: 3danimator2014
Can I ask a question. Probably a silly one.
How is it arriving there so quickly? I thought it took over a year to get to mars. Unless they have a sh*t load of fuel to burn to slow down?
originally posted by: wildespace
originally posted by: 3danimator2014
Can I ask a question. Probably a silly one.
How is it arriving there so quickly? I thought it took over a year to get to mars. Unless they have a sh*t load of fuel to burn to slow down?
If you consider the orbits of Mars and Earth around the Sun (and that the Earth goes around the Sun much faster than Mars does), there are times when Earth is on the opposite side of the Sun from Mars - and thus very very far away from the red planet, and there are times when Earth and Mars are both on the same side of the Sun - and thus much closer to each other.
This launch took advantage of such closeness.