Credit: NASA. 22,262 bytes. 329 x 229 pixels.
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| Mars 1 / 2MV-4 - Mars 2MV-4. Other spacecraft in the 2MV series were similar. Credit: NASA. 22,262 bytes. 329 x 229 pixels. |
Mars probe intended to photograph Mars on a flyby trajectory. It carried various scientific and communications equipment including a magnetometer probe, a high-gain antenna, an omnidirectional antenna, a semi-directional antenna, and photographic equipment.
Total Mass: 894 kg.
Mars probe intended to photograph Mars on a flyby trajectory. The spacecraft broke into many pieces, some of which apparently remained in Earth orbit for a few days. This occurred during the Cuban missile crisis and was picked up by U.S. military radar installations, who originally feared it might by the start of a Soviet nuclear attack.
Mars probe intended to photograph Mars on a flyby trajectory. Sixty-one radio transmissions were held in which a large amount of data was collected. On March 21, 1963, when the spacecraft was at a distance of 106 million km communications ceased, possibly due to a malfunction in the spacecraft orientation system. Mars 1 closest approach to Mars occurred on June 19, 1963 at a distance of approximately 193,000 km, after which the spacecraft entered a heliocentric orbit. Announced mission: Prolonged exploration of outer space during flight to the planet Mars; establishment of inter-planetary radio communications; photgraphing of the planet Mars and subsquent radio-transmission to Earth of the photographs of the surface of Mars thus obtained.