Launch:
10 October 1960
Name:
Korabl 4 / Marsnik 1 /Mars 1960A
Country:
USSR (flyby)
Result:
Failure
Reason:
Didn't reach Earth orbit
After launch, the third stage pumps on both Marsnik launchers were unable to develop enough thrust to commence ignition, so Earth parking orbit was
not achieved. The spacecraft reached an altitude of 120 km before reentry.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Launch:
14 October 1960
Name:
Korabl 5 / Marsnik 2 / Mars 1960B
Country:
USSR (flyby)
Result:
Failure
Reason:
Didn't reach Earth orbit
After launch, the third stage pumps on both Marsnik launchers were unable to develop enough thrust to commence ignition, so
Earth parking orbit was not achieved.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Launch:
24 October 1962
Name:
Korabl 11 / Sputnik 22 / Mars 1962A
Country:
USSR (flyby)
Result:
Failure
Reason:
Earth orbit only; spacecraft broke apart
The spacecraft and the upper stage were launched by an SL-6 into a 180 × 485 km Earth parking orbit and either broke up as they were going into Earth
orbit or had the upper stage explode in orbit during the burn to put the spacecraft into Mars trajectory.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Launch:
1 November 1962
Name:
Mars 1
Country:
USSR (flyby)
Result:
Failure
Reason:
Radio Failed
On 21 March 1963, when the spacecraft was at a distance of 106,760,000 km from Earth on its way to Mars, communications ceased, probably due to
failure of the spacecraft's antenna 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.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Launch:
4 November 1962
Name:
Korabl 13 / Sputnik 24 / Mars 1962B
Country:
USSR (flyby)
Result:
Failure
Reason:
Earth orbit only; spacecraft broke apart
The complex broke up during the burn to transfer to Mars trajectory. Five large pieces were tracked by the U.S. Ballistic Missile Early Warning
System. The geocentric orbit of the presumed booster decayed on 25 December 1962 and the Mars spacecraft orbit decayed and it re-entered Earth's
atmosphere on January 19, 1963.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Launch:
5 November 1964
Name:
Mariner 3
Country:
US (flyby)
Result:
Failure
Reason:
Shroud failed to jettison
The shroud encasing the spacecraft atop its rocket failed to open properly, and Mariner 3 did not get to Mars. Unable to collect the Sun's energy for
power from its solar panels, the probe soon died when its batteries ran out and is now in solar orbit.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Launch:
28 November 1964 Arrival at Mars: 14 July 1965
Name:
Mariner 4
Country:
US (flyby)
Result:
Success
Reason:
Returned 21 images
After 7½ months of flight involving one midcourse maneuver on 5 December 1964, the spacecraft flew by Mars on July 14 and July 15, 1965. Planetary
science mode was turned on at 15:41:49 UT on 14 July. The camera sequence started at 00:18:36 UT on July 15 (7:18:49 p.m. EST on July 14) and 21
pictures using alternate red and green filters, plus 21 lines of a 22nd picture were taken. The images covered a discontinuous swath of Mars starting
near 40° N, 170° E, down to about 35° S, 200° E, and then across to the terminator at 50° S, 255° E, representing about 1% of the planet's
surface. The closest approach was 9,846 km from the Martian surface at 01:00:57 UT 15 July 1965 (8:00:57 p.m. EST 14 July). The images taken during
the flyby were stored in the onboard tape recorder. At 02:19:11 UT Mariner 4 passed behind Mars as seen from Earth and the radio signal ceased. The
signal was reacquired at 03:13:04 UT when the spacecraft reappeared. Cruise mode was then re-established.
Transmission of the taped images to Earth began about 8.5 hours after signal reacquisition and continued until 3 August. All images were transmitted
twice to ensure no data was missing or corrupt.
The spacecraft performed all programmed activities successfully and returned useful data from launch until 22:05:07 UT on 1
October 1965, when the distance from Earth (309.2 million km) and the antenna orientation temporarily halted signal
acquisition.
On December 7 the gas supply in the attitude control system was exhausted, and on December 10 and 11 a total of 83 micrometeoroid hits were recorded
which caused perturbation of the attitude and degradation of the signal strength. On 21 December 1967 communications with Mariner 4 were
terminated.
First close-up image of Mars, from the Mariner 4 spacecraft
Mariner 4 image, the first close-up image ever taken of Mars. This shows an area about 330 km across by 1200 km from limb to bottom of frame, centered
at 37 N, 187 W. The area is near the boundary of Elysium Planitia to the west and Arcadia Planitia to the east. The hazy area barely visible above the
limb on the left side of the image may be clouds. This portion of the feature has been enhanced in image m04_01h to bring out more of the haze-like
features. The resolution of this image is roughly 5 km and north is up. (Mariner 4, frame 01D)
Mariner 4 Mission Page - NSSDC Image
Catalog
_________________________________________________________________________________
Launch:
30 November 1964
Name:
Zond 2
Country:
USSR (flyby)
Result:
Failure
Reason:
Radio failed
During some maneuvering in early May, 1965, communications were lost. Running on half power due to the loss of one of its solar panels, the spacecraft
flew by Mars on August 6, 1965 at 5.62 km/s, 1,500 km away from the planet.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Launch:
25 February 1969
Name:
Mariner 6
Country:
US (flyby)
Result:
Success
Reason:
Returned 75 images
Mariner 6 took near-encounter photos of Mars on 31 July 1969. Frame 19, 3613 kilometers from the surface, shows flat-bottomed craters a few kilometers
to a few hundred wide. High-resolution frames 20 and 22 show smaller, bowl-shaped craters, resembling primary impact craters found on the moon.
mar_6n02
Full size:
ser.sese.asu.edu...
MARINER 6 IMAGES
_________________________________________________________________________________
Launch:
27 March 1969
Name:
Mariner 7
Country:
US (flyby)
Result:
Success
Reason:
Returned 126 images
On July 29, 1969, less than a week before closest approach, JPL lost contact with Mariner 7. They regained the signal via the backup low-gain antenna
and were able to start using the high gain antenna again shortly after Mariner 6's close encounter.
It was later determined
a battery onboard Mariner 7 had exploded. Based on the observations made by Mariner 6, Mariner 7 was reprogrammed in
flight to take further observations of areas of interest and actually returned more pictures than Mariner 6, despite the explosion.
mar_7n12
Full size:
ser.sese.asu.edu...
MARINER 7 IMAGES
_________________________________________________________________________________
Launch:
27 March 1969
Name:
Mars 1969A
Country:
USSR
Result:
Failure
Reason:
Launch vehicle failure
The first two stages of the rocket operated nominally, but a bearing failure in the third stage 438.66 seconds after launch led to a turbopump
shutdown and fire, resulting in the rocket and payload exploding. Debris was strewn over the Altai mountains.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Launch:
2 April 1969
Name:
Mars 1969B
Country:
USSR
Result:
Failure
Reason:
Launch vehicle failure
Problems began almost immediately, when one of the six first-stage rocket motors exploded. The control systems attempted to automatically compensate
and the rocket continued to lift from the pad on five engines. At 25 seconds into the launch, however, proper vehicle attitude could not be
maintained, with the rocket reaching the horizontal attitude. The remaining engines shut down, and the launch vehicle and payload impacted the ground
41 seconds after launch, approximately 3 km away.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Launch:
8 May 1971
Name:
Mariner 8
Country:
US
Result:
Failure
Reason:
Launch failure
The main Centaur engine was ignited 265 seconds after launch, but the upper stage began to oscillate in pitch and tumbled out of control. The Centaur
stage shut down 365 seconds after launch due to starvation caused by the tumbling. The Centaur and spacecraft payload separated and re-entered the
Earth's atmosphere approximately 1500 km downrange and fell into the Atlantic Ocean about 560 km north of Puerto Rico.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Launch:
10 May 1971
Name:
Cosmos 419
Country:
USSR
Result:
Failure
Reason:
Achieved Earth orbit only
The SL-12/D-1-e Proton booster successfully put the spacecraft into low earth parking orbit (174 km x 159 km) with an inclination of 51.4 degrees.
However, the Block D stage 4 then failed due to a bad ignition timer setting: the timer, intended to start ignition 1.5 hours after orbit was reached,
had been erroneously set for 1.5 years. The orbit subsequently
decayed and the spacecraft re-entered Earth's atmosphere 2 days later on 12 May 1971.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Launch:
19 May 1971
Name:
Mars 2 Orbiter/Lander
Country:
USSR
Result:
Failure
Reason:
Orbiter arrived, but no useful data and Lander destroyed
After entering the atmosphere at approximately 6 km/s, the descent system on the module malfunctioned, possibly because the angle of entry was too
steep. The descent sequence did not operate as planned and the parachute did not deploy. The lander crashed at 4° N, 47° W. Mars 2 was the first
manmade object to reach the surface of Mars.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Launch:
28 May 1971
Name:
Mars 3 Orbiter/Lander
Country:
USSR
Result:
Success
Reason:
Orbiter obtained approximately 8 months of data and lander landed safely, but only 20 seconds of data
Mars 3 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, parachutes, and retrorockets, the lander achieved a soft landing at 45° S, 158° W and began operations.
After 14.5 seconds, at 13:52:25, transmission on both data channels stopped for unknown reasons and no further signals were received at Earth from the
martian surface. It is not known whether the fault originated with the lander or the communications relay on the orbiter.
Note: in according to other versions of the facts, the phototelevision cameras on Mars-3 were functional after the dust storm which caused the
black-out. At least four photographic surveys have been reported (Dec 12, 14, Feb 28, Mar 12). Images were returned by pulse-code modulation over the
decimeter-band telemetry channel, after the centimeter-band pulse-position modulation system failed.
Source:
www.mentallandscape.com...
Atmospheric Edge
Mountains in Equatorial Region
Signal from mars-3 Lander
MARS 3 IMAGES
MORE MARS 3 IMAGES
_________________________________________________________________________________
Launch:
30 May 1971
Name:
Mariner 9
Country:
US
Result:
Success
Reason:
Returned 7,329 images
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 another planet — only narrowly beating Soviet Mars 2 and Mars 3, which both arrived within a month. After
months of dust-storms it managed to send back surprisingly clear pictures of the surface.
The labyrinth area of western Valles Marineris on Mars
Mariner 9 view of the labyrinth at the western end of Vallis Marineris on Mars. Linear graben, grooves, and crater chains dominate this region, along
with a number of flat-topped mesas. The image is roughly 400 km across, centered at 6 S, 105 W, at the edge of the Tharsis bulge. North is up.
(Mariner 9, MTVS 4187-45)
Original image:
nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov...
MARINER 9 IMAGES
_________________________________________________________________________________
Launch:
21 July 1973
Name:
Mars 4
Country:
USSR
Result:
Failure
Reason:
Flew past Mars
The Mars 4 orbiter reached Mars on 10 February 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
sath 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.
Frame 1.V (52mm "Vega" phototelevision camera)
Full res:
www.mentallandscape.com...
Panorama 1 (orange filter, optical-mechanical linear cameras)
Full res:
www.mentallandscape.com...
MARS 4 IMAGES
_________________________________________________________________________________
Launch:
25 July 1973
Name:
Mars 5
Country:
USSR
Result:
Success
Reason:
Returned 60 images; only lasted 9 days
[size=1]
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[2]. 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.
[/size]
Frame 6.Z (phototelevision cameras, February 17, Program 1)
Full res:
www.mentallandscape.com...
Frame 8.V (phototelevision cameras, February 21, Program 2)
Full res:
www.mentallandscape.com...
Composite 9,10,11
Full res:
www.mentallandscape.com...
Composed by:
www.mentallandscape.com... Frame 9.V (green)
www.mentallandscape.com... Frame 10.V (red)
www.mentallandscape.com... Frame 11.V (blue)
Optical-Mechanical Panorama - (optical-mechanical linear cameras)
Full res:
www.mentallandscape.com...
MARS 5IMAGES
_________________________________________________________________________________
Launch:
5 August 1973
Name:
Mars 6 Orbiter/Lander
Country:
USSR
Result:
Success/Failure
Reason:
Occultation experiment produced data and Lander failure on descent
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. Unfortunately,
much of the data were unreadable due to a flaw in
a computer chip which led to degradation of the system during its journey to Mars.
Data returned by the Mars 6 descent module allowed a profile of tropospheric structure from the base of the stratosphere at 25 km altitude at 150 K to
the surface at 230 K and atmospheric density from 82 km to 12 km. A surface pressure of 6 mb and temperature of (230 K) -43 C were measured.
Instruments also indicated "several times" more atmospheric water vapor than previously reported. The mass spectrometer data were stored on-board
during the descent and scheduled to be transmitted after landing and were therefore lost. The current to the vacuum pump was transmitted as an
engineering parameter, however, and a steep increase in current was found. It was hypothesized to indicate an inert gas which could not be removed by
the pump, leading to an estimate of argon abundance in the atmosphere of 25% to 45%. (The actual value is now known to be about 1.6%.)
The Mars 6 flyby bus performed a radio occultation experiment and the results, in concert with results from Mars 4 and 5
occultation measurements, showed the existence of a nightside ionosphere with a maximum electron density of 4600 per cubic cm
at an altitude of 110 km and a near surface atmospheric pressure of 6.7 mbar.
nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov...
_________________________________________________________________________________
Launch:
9 August 1973
Name:
Mars 7 Lander
Country:
USSR
Result:
Failure
Reason:
Missed planet; now in solar orbit.
Due to a problem in the operation of one of the onboard 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.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Launch:
20 August 1975
Name:
Viking 1 Orbiter/Lander
Country:
US
Result:
Success
Reason:
Located landing site for Lander and first successful landing on Mars
The Viking 1 Lander touched down in western Chryse Planitia ("Golden Plain") at 22.697° N latitude and 48.222° W longitude at a reference altitude
of −2.69 km relative to a reference ellipsoid with an equatorial radius of 3397.2 km and a flatness of 0.0105 (22.480° N, 47.967° W
planetographic) at 11:53:06 UT (16:13 local Mars time). Approximately 22 kg of propellants were left at landing.
Transmission of the first surface image began 25 seconds after landing and took about 4 minutes. During these minutes the lander activated itself. It
erected a high-gain antenna pointed toward Earth for direct communication and deployed a meteorology boom mounted with sensors. In the next 7 minutes
the second picture of the 300° panoramic scene
was taken. On the day after the landing the first color picture of the surface of Mars was taken. The seismometer failed to uncage, and a sampler arm
locking pin was stuck and took 5 days to shake out. Otherwise, all experiments functioned nominally. The lander had two means of returning data to
earth: a relay link up to the orbiter and back, and by using a direct link to earth. The data capacity of the relay link was about 10 times higher
than the direct link.
First panoramic view by Viking 1 from the surface of Mars
Viking 1 images
_________________________________________________________________________________
You go away for few days and you come back with this increble ensemble *** of pure unadulterated information **** 
