Colonizing Mars 2023

The Mars 2 was an uncrewed space probe of the Mars program, a series of uncrewed Mars landers and orbiters launched by the Soviet Union May 19, 1971. The Mars 2 and Mars 3 missions consisted of identical spacecraft, each with an orbiter and an attached lander. The orbiter is identical to the Venera 9 bus or orbiter. The type of bus/orbiter is the 4MV. They were launched by a Proton-K heavy launch vehicle with a Blok D upper stage. The lander of Mars 2 became the first human-made object to reach the surface of Mars, although the landing system failed and the lander was lost. read more

Mars 3 was a robotic space probe of the Soviet Mars program, launched May 28, 1971, nine days after its twin spacecraft Mars 2. The probes were identical robotic spacecraft launched by Proton-K rockets with a Blok D upper stage, each consisting of an orbiter and an attached lander. After the Mars 2 lander crashed on the Martian surface, the Mars 3 lander became the first spacecraft to attain a soft landing on Mars, on 2 December 1971. It failed 20 seconds after landing, having transmitted only a gray image with no details.[3] The Mars 2 orbiter and Mars 3 orbiter continued to circle Mars and transmit images back to Earth for another eight months. read more

The Mars 3 lander, a so called Passability Estimating Vehicle for Mars was designed and manufactured in Mobile Vehicle Engineering Institute by about 150 engineers team, led by Alexander Kemurdzhian. Vehicle was a small ‘Mars rover’ on board, which was planned to move across the surface on skis while connected to the lander with a 15-meter umbilical cable. Two small metal rods were used for autonomous obstacle avoidance, as radio signals from Earth would take too long to drive the rovers using remote control. The rover carried a dynamic penetrometer and a gamma ray densitometer. read more

Mariner 9 (Mariner Mars ’71 / Mariner-I) was a robotic space probe that contributed greatly to the exploration of Mars and was part of the NASA Mariner program. Mariner 9 was launched toward Mars on May 30, 1971[1][2] from LC-36B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, and reached the planet on November 14 of the same year,[1][2] becoming the first spacecraft to orbit another planet[3] – only narrowly beating the Soviet probes Mars 2 (launched May 19) and Mars 3 (launched May 28), which both arrived at Mars only weeks later. read more

Mars 4 (Russian: Марс-4), also known as 3MS No.52S was a Soviet spacecraft intended to explore Mars. A 3MS spacecraft launched as part of the Mars programme, it was intended to enter orbit around Mars in 1974. However, computer problems prevented orbital insertion from occurring.[4]

Mars 5 (Russian: Марс-5), also known as 3MS No.53S was a Soviet spacecraft launched to explore Mars. A 3MS spacecraft launched as part of the Mars programme, it successfully entered orbit around Mars in 1974. However, it failed a few weeks later.[4]

Mars 6 (Russian: Марс-6), also known as 3MP No.50P was a Soviet spacecraft launched to explore Mars. A 3MP bus spacecraft launched as part of the Mars program, it consisted of a lander, and a coast stage with instruments to study Mars as it flew past.

Mars 7 (Russian: Марс-7), also known as 3MP No.51P was a Soviet spacecraft launched to explore Mars. A 3MP bus spacecraft which comprised the final mission of the Mars programme, it consisted of a lander and a coast stage with instruments to study Mars as it flew past. Due to a malfunction, the lander failed to perform a maneuver necessary to enter the Martian atmosphere, missing the planet and remaining in heliocentric orbit along with the coast stage.

The Viking 2 mission was part of the American Viking program to Mars, and consisted of an orbiter and a lander essentially identical to that of the Viking 1 mission.[1] The Viking 2 lander operated on the surface for 1316 days, or 1281 sols, and was turned off on April 12, 1980 when its batteries failed. The orbiter worked until July 25, 1978,[1] returning almost 16,000 images in 706 orbits around Mars.[5]

Viking 1 was the first of two spacecraft (along with Viking 2) sent to Mars as part of NASA’s Viking program.[2] On July 20, 1976, it became the second spacecraft to soft-land on Mars, and the first to successfully perform its mission. (The first spacecraft to soft-land on Mars was the Soviet Union’s Mars 3 on December 2, 1971, which stopped transmitting after 14.5 seconds.) Viking 1 held the record for the longest Mars surface mission of 2307 days (over 6​1⁄4 years)[2] or 2245 Martian solar days,[2] until that record was broken by the Opportunity rover on May 19, 2010.[6] read more