Mars 1M was a series of two unmanned spacecraft

Unmanned spacecraft

Unmanned spacecraft are spacecraft without people on board, and probably includes unmanned resupply spacecraft, space probes, and most space observatories. A difference between robotic spacecraft and unmanned spacecraft, is that unmanned spacecraft is inclusive to non-robotic unmanned spacecraft,...

 which were used in the first Soviet

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....

 missions to explore 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...

. They were the earliest missions of the Mars program. The Western media dubbed the spacecraft "Marsnik", a portmanteau of Mars and Sputnik.

Mars 1M No.1, known in the west as Marsnik 1, Mars 1960A and Korabl 4, was destroyed in a launch failure on October 10, 1960. In 1962 NASA Administrator James E. Webb

James E. Webb

James Edwin Webb was an American government official who served as the second administrator of NASA from February 14, 1961 to October 7, 1968....

 informed the United States Congress

United States Congress

The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....

 that NASA believed the mission was an attempt at a Mars flyby probe. Some Soviet scientists involved with the program at that time claim no knowledge of this mission, stating that only the second launch was an intended Mars mission. However V.G. Perminov, the leading designer of planetary spacecraft at the Lavochkin design bureau, states that this mission was indeed intended for Mars, and was identical to the later mission.

Mars 1M No.2, known in the west as Marsnik 2, Korabl 5 and Mars 1960B, was launched on October 14, 1960.

Both Mars 1M spacecraft were 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. The third stage pumps on both rockets were unable to develop enough thrust to commence ignition, and as a result neither spacecraft achieved its initial geocentric

Geocentric orbit

A geocentric orbit involves any object orbiting the Earth, such as the Moon or artificial satellites. Currently there are approximately 2,465 artificial satellites orbiting the Earth and 6,216 pieces of space debris as tracked by the Goddard Space Flight Center...

 parking orbit. The spacecraft reached an altitude of 120 km before reentry.

Mission profile

The objectives of the mission were to investigate interplanetary space between Earth and Mars, to study Mars and return surface images from a flyby trajectory, and to study the effects of extended spaceflight on onboard instruments and provide radio communications from long distances.

Spacecraft and subsystems

NASA describes the spacecraft as:

nearly identical to the Venera 1

Venera 1

On February 12, 1961, 00:34:36 UTC, was the first planetary probe launched to Venus by the Soviet Union. The Venus-1 Automatic Interplanetary Station, or Venera 1, was a 643.5 kg probe consisting of a cylindrical body 1.05 metres in diameter topped by a dome, totalling 2.035 metres...

 design, a cylindrical body about 2 meters high with two solar panel

Photovoltaic module

A solar panel is a packaged, connected assembly of solar cells, also known as photovoltaic cells...

 wings, a 2.33 meter high-gain net antenna, and a long antenna arm, and had a mass of about 650 kg. It carried a 10 kg science payload consisting of a magnetometer

Magnetometer

A magnetometer is a measuring instrument used to measure the strength or direction of a magnetic field either produced in the laboratory or existing in nature...

 on a boom, cosmic ray

Cosmic ray

Cosmic rays are energetic charged subatomic particles, originating from outer space. They may produce secondary particles that penetrate the Earth's atmosphere and surface. The term ray is historical as cosmic rays were thought to be electromagnetic radiation...

 counter, plasma-ion trap, a radiometer

Radiometer

A radiometer is a device for measuring the radiant flux of electromagnetic radiation. Generally, the term radiometer denotes an infrared radiation detector, yet it also includes detectors operating on any electromagnetic wavelength....

, a micrometeorite detector, and a spectroreflectometer to study the CH band, a possible indicator of life

Life

Life is a characteristic that distinguishes objects that have signaling and self-sustaining processes from those that do not, either because such functions have ceased , or else because they lack such functions and are classified as inanimate...

 on Mars. These instruments were mounted on the outside of the spacecraft. A photo-television camera was held in a sealed module in the spacecraft and could take pictures through a viewport when a sensor indicated the Sun-illuminated martian surface was in view.

Attitude was controlled by a Sun-star sensor with attitude correction performed by a dimethylhydrazine/nitric acid

Nitric acid

Nitric acid , also known as aqua fortis and spirit of nitre, is a highly corrosive and toxic strong acid.Colorless when pure, older samples tend to acquire a yellow cast due to the accumulation of oxides of nitrogen. If the solution contains more than 86% nitric acid, it is referred to as fuming...

 bipropellant rocket engine. The spacecraft orientation was to be maintained so that the solar panels faced the Sun throughout the flight. Power was provided by the two-square meter solar panels which charged silver-zinc batteries

Silver-oxide battery

A silver oxide battery , not to be confused with a similar but different silver–zinc battery, which is a secondary cell, is a primary cell with relatively very high energy/weight ratio. They are costly due to the high price of silver...

. Radio communications were made using a decimeter band transmitter via the high gain antenna for spacecraft commands and telemetry. Radio bearing was used to maintain the antennas' orientation to Earth. Images were to be transferred using an 8-cm wavelength transmitter through the high-gain antenna. A fourth stage was added to the booster, the Molniya

Molniya

Molniya may refer to:* The Molniya , the Soviet military communications satellite.* Molniya orbit, distinctive orbit associated with the satellite....

or 8K78, the new launcher was designated SL-6/A-2-e.

External links

• The Soviet Mars program, Professor Chris Mihos, Case Western Reserve University