199 lines
8.9 KiB
Plaintext
199 lines
8.9 KiB
Plaintext
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CHRONOLOGY OF US & USSR/RUSSIAN UNSTAFFED MARS PROBES
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10/24/62 THROUGH 08/26/93
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By: Elizabeth Orne
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Mars Information Network
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(214) 904-0338 N/8/1 2400/4800/9600
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(214) 904-0529 Voice
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As excerpted from NASA Mars Observer
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press kit September, 1992
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COUNTRY LAUNCHED MISSION ARR MARS KEY RESULTS
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------- -------- ------- -------- -------------------------------------
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USSR 10/24/62 Sputnik 22 .. Spacecraft and final stage blew up
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during ascent.
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USSR 11/01/62 Mars 1 .. Contact lost when onboard antenna
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could no longer be turned toward
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Earth.
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USSR 11/04/62 Sputnik 24 .. Disintegrated during attempt to
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move from parking orbit into Mars
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trajectory.
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US 11/05/64 Mariner 3 .. Shroud failed to jettison properly,
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spacecraft did not encounter Mars.
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Transmissions ceased 9 hours after
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launch. Enter solar orbit.
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US 11/28/64 Mariner 4 07/14/65 Mars flyby; Provided the first
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close-range images of Mars,
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confirming the existence of
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surface craters. Entered solar
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orbit.
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USSR 11/30/64 Zond 2 .. Passed by Mars; failed to return
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data. Entered into solar orbit.
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US 02/24/69 Mariner 6 07/31/69 Mars flyby; Provided high-
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resolution photos of the Martian
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surface, concentrating on the
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equatorial region. Entered
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solar orbit.
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US 03/27/69 Mariner 7 08/05/69 Mars flyby; Provided high-
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resolution photos of the Martian
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surface, concentrating on the
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southern hemisphere. Entered
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soar orbit.
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US 05/08/71 Mariner 8 .. Centaur stage malfunctioned shortly
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after launch.
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USSR 05/10/71 Cosmos 419 .. First use of Proton launcher for
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planetary mission. Stranded in
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Earth orbit when fourth stage
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failed to seperate.
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Page 1
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USSR 05/19/71 Mars 2 11/27/71 Orbiter and Lander. Landing
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capsule separated from spacecraft
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and made first, unsuccessful
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attempt to softland. Orbiter
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continued to transmit data.
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USSR 05/28/71 Mars 3 12/02/71 Orbiter and Lander. Landing
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capsule seperated from spacecraft
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and landed in southern hemisphere.
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Onboard camera transmitted for only
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20 seconds. Orbiter transmitted
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for 3 months.
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US 05/30/71 Mariner 9 11/13/71 Mars orbiter. First interplanetary
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probe to orbit another planet.
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During nearly a year of operations,
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obtained detailed photographs of the
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Martian moons, Phobos and Deimos,
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and mapped 100 percent of the Martian
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surface.
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USSR 07/21/73 Mars 4 & 02/10/74 Orbiters and Landers. Mars 4
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USSR 07/25/73 Mars 5 02/12/74 retro rockets failed to fire,
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preventing orbit insertion. As
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it passed the planet, Mars 4
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returned one swath of pictures and
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some radio occultation data. Mars
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5 was successfully placed in orbit,
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but operated only a few days,
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returning photographs of a small
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portion of southern hemisphere of
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Mars.
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USSR 08/05/73 Mars 6 & 03/12/74 Orbiters and Landers. Mars 6
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USSR 08/09/73 Mars 7 03/09/74 lander module transmitted data
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during descent, but transmissions
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abruptly ceased when the landing
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rockets were fired. Mars 7 descent
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module was seperated from the main
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spacecraft due to a problem in the
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operation of one of the onboard
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sub-systems, and passed by the
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planet.
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US 08/20/75 Viking 1 06/19/76 Mars orbiter and lander. First
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Orbit US attempt to soft land a space-
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07/20/76 craft on another planet. Landed
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Landed on the Plain of Chryse. Both
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orbiters (Viking 1 & 2) took a
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total of 52,000 images during
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their mission; approximately 97
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percent of the surface was
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imaged. Viking 1 orbiter continued
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to operate until 08/07/80; Viking
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lander operated until 11/13/82.
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US 09/09/75 Viking 2 80/07/76 Mars orbiter and lander. Landed
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Page 2
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Orbit on the plain of Utopia. Discovered
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09/03/76 water frost on the surface at the
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Landed end of the Martian winter. The two
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landers (Viking 1 & 2) took 4,500
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images of the surface and provided
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over 3 million weather reports.
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Viking 2 orbiter continued to
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operate until 07/25/78; Viking 2
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lander operated until 11/13/82.
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USSR 07/07/88 Phobos 1 & 01/89 International project to study
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USSR 07/12/88 Phobos 2 01/89 Mars and its moon phobos. Phobos
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1 was disabled by a ground control
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error. Phobos 2 was successfully
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inserted into Martian orbit in
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January 1989 to study the Martian
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surface, atmosphere and magnetic
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field. On March 27, 1989,
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communications with Phobos 2 were
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lost and efforts to contact the
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spacecraft were unsuccessful.
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US 09/25/92 Mars .. Mars Orbiter; Spacecraft took 1
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Observer photo of Mars approx 20 days
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prior to MOI (Mars orbital
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insertion). Communications were
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lost at 6:00 p.m. 08/21/93, 3 days
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prior to MOI. As of 08/28/93
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no reason can be found for the
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loss of contact. Visions of
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Phobos 2 ??
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END CHRONOLOGY
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Page 3
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