Mars 2
Mars 3 Orbiter with lander visible at top
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| Names | M-71 No. 171 |
|---|---|
| Mission type | Orbiter and lander |
| Operator | Soviet Union |
| COSPAR ID | Orbiter:1971-045A Lander:1971-045D |
| SATCAT no. | Orbiter:5234 Lander:5739 |
| Mission duration | 461 days |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Manufacturer | OKB-1 |
| Launch mass | Orbiter:2,265 kg (4,993 lb) Lander:358 kg (789 lb) |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 16:22:44, May 19, 1971 |
| Rocket | Proton K with Blok D upper stage |
| End of mission | |
| Disposal | Decommissioned |
| Deactivated | August 22, 1972 |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Areocentric |
| Mars orbiter | |
| Orbital insertion | November 27, 1971 |
| Orbits | 362 |
| Orbit parameters | |
| Periareion | 1,380 km (860 mi) |
| Apoareion | 24,940 km (15,500 mi) |
| Inclination | 48.9° |
| Mars lander | |
| Spacecraft component | Mars 2 Lander |
| Landing date | November 27, 1971 |
| Landing site | 4°N 47°W / 4°N 47°W |
The Mars 2 was an unmanned space probe of the Mars program, a series of unmanned Mars landers and orbiters launched by the Soviet Union in the early 1970s. 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. They were launched by a Proton-K heavy launch vehicle with a Blok D upper stage. The lander of Mars 2 became the first man-made object to reach the surface of Mars, although the landing system failed and the lander was lost. On May 19, 1971, the proton-k-2 blasted from Baikonur Cosmodrome. After the first stage separated the second stage started. The third stage engine blasted Mars 2 into parking orbit then the Blok-d sent Mars 2 to Mars, then the probe was deployed.
The orbiter engine performed a burn to put the spacecraft into a 1380 x 24,940 km, 18-hour orbit about Mars with an inclination of 48.9 degrees. Scientific instruments were generally turned on for about 30 minutes near periapsis.
The orbiter's primary scientific objectives were to image the Martian surface and clouds, determine the temperature on Mars, study the topography, composition and physical properties of the surface, measure properties of the atmosphere, monitor the solar wind and the interplanetary and Martian magnetic fields, and act as a communications relay to send signals from the landers to the Earth.
By coincidence, a particularly large dust storm on Mars adversely affected the mission. When Mariner 9 arrived and successfully orbited Mars on 14 November 1971, just two weeks prior to Mars 2 and Mars 3, planetary scientists were surprised to find the atmosphere was thick with "a planet-wide robe of dust, the largest storm ever observed." The surface was totally obscured. Unable to reprogram the mission computers, both Mars 2 and Mars 3 dispatched their landers immediately, and the orbiters used up a significant portion of their available data resources in snapping images of the featureless dust clouds below, rather than the surface mapping intended.
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