Mars 2M No.521
Soviet Mars orbiter lost in launch failure in 1969.
Mars 2M No.521 was a Soviet spacecraft lost in a launch failure in 1969. It was intended to orbit Mars and image its surface using three cameras, along with carrying a radiometer, spectrometers, and a water vapor detector. It was one of two Mars 2M probes launched that year, neither of which succeeded.
Quick Facts
- Mission duration
- Failed to orbit
- Manufacturer
- NPO Lavochkin
- Launch mass
- 4,850 kg / 10,692 lb
- Launched
- March 27, 1969, 10:40:45
- Launch rocket
- Proton-K/D s/n 240-01
- Launch site
- Baikonur 81/23
- Programme
- Mars program
Facts from the source article.
Launch
On March 27, 1969, at 10:40:45 UTC, the Mars 2M No.521 probe launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 81/23 on a Proton-K rocket with a Blok D upper stage. The first and second stages performed correctly, and the payload fairing separated. The third stage, however, failed to ignite on time, and the booster was reported to have exploded. The cause was a fire started by an unbalanced rotor in the third stage’s oxidizer turbopump, which led to a loss of thrust and breakup of the vehicle. The wreckage of the third stage and probe fell in the Altai Mountains.
More in Space Probes of ESA, Japan, China, India and the USSR
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