Mars 1
Mars 1 — the first spacecraft to fly past Mars, though it had fallen silent by then (launched 1 November 1962). A leaking valve in its attitude-control system left it unable to correct its course, and contact was lost 106 million km from Earth, on 21 March 1963. It passed Mars on 19 June 1963, some 193,000–197,000 km away, and went into orbit around the Sun.
Key facts
Mission & specifications
Mission
- Operator
- OKB-1 (USSR)
- Launched
- November 1, 1962
- Status
- Lost
Trajectory
- Distance from the Sun
- 1.57 AU
- Computed from the cached position
- Distance from Earth
- 1.57 AU
- Computed from cached positions
- Distance from Mars
- 429,894 km
- Computed from cached positions
Mission
Mars 1 was the first spacecraft to fly past Mars, though by the time it did, it had been silent for months. It was the second of three Soviet probes sent toward Mars in the autumn of 1962, and the only one to leave Earth orbit. A modified Venera-type craft, it weighed 893.5 kg and carried a camera, a magnetometer, detectors for radiation and micrometeoroids, and a spectrograph to study ozone. Right after it was sent on its way on 1 November, controllers found that a valve in its attitude-control system had not closed, and its nitrogen gas was leaking away. Before the gas ran out they set the craft spinning so a backup gyroscope kept its solar panels on the Sun, but it made no further course corrections. Contact held through 61 radio sessions, and it measured cosmic rays, the solar wind and the Taurid meteor stream until 21 March 1963, when it was 106 million km from Earth and its antenna had lost its aim at home. On 19 June 1963 it passed Mars silently. NSSDCA gives the distance as about 193,000 km, NASA's history Beyond Earth as 197,000 km. It remains in orbit around the Sun.
- 1962Launch toward MarsLaunch
Sent on its way from a heavy satellite in Earth orbit — the only one of three 1962 probes to leave it.
- 1962Spun up to save its powerMilestone
A leaking valve drains its attitude-control gas; set spinning on 6–7 November, it keeps its solar panels on the Sun.
- 1963Contact lostMission end
106 million km from Earth, its antenna can no longer be kept pointed home.
The first spacecraft to fly past Mars goes on into orbit around the Sun.
Images
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