THE FIRST MARS SPACECRAFT: 1962

Campaign objectives:

After the three Venus launches failed in late August and early September, Korolev’s team scrambled to prepare for three more launches to Mars in late October and early November. Many measures were taken to enhance the reliability of the fourth stage. There was some pressure to abandon the Mars attempts until the problems with this stage were solved, but Korolev blazed ahead.

The 1962 Mars campaign consisted of two flyby missions and one entry probe. The objectives of the entry probe were to obtain in-situ data on the composition and structure of the atmosphere, and data on surface composition. The objectives of the flyby missions were to examine the interplanetary environment between Earth and Mars, to photograph that planet in several colors, to search for a planetary magnetic field and radiation belt, to search for ozone in the atmosphere, and to search for organic compounds on the surface. A comprehensive payload was prepared for each spacecraft, but apart from the camera and a magnetometer most of the payload was deleted when it was decided instead to install instrumentation to monitor the fourth stage to find out why it was suffering so many failures. These missions then became primarily engineering test flights of the 8K78 fourth stage, with Mars as a secondary objective.

Spacecraft launched
First spacecraft:	2MV-4 No.3 [Sputnik 22]
Mission Type:	Mars Flyby
Country! Builder:	USSR /ОКВ-1
Launch Vehicle:	Molniya
Launch Date ‘: 7 ime:	October 24, 1962 at 17:55:04 UT (Baikonur)
Outcome:	Failed in Farth orbit, fourth stage explosion.
Second spacecraft:	Mars 1 (2MV-4 No.4) [Sputnik 23]
Mission Type:	Mars Flyby
Country і Builder:	USSR OKB-1
Launch Vehicle:	Molniya
Launch Date; Time:	November 1. 1962 at 16:14:16 UT (Baikonur)
Mission End:	March 21,1963
Encounter Date; ‘Lime:	June 19, 1963
Outcome:	Failure in transit, communications lost.
Third spacecraft:	2MV-3 No. l [Sputnik 24]
Mission Type:	Mars Atmosphere/Surface Probe
Country і Builder:	USSR OKB-1
Launch Vehicle:	Molniya
Launch Date: Time:	November 4, 1962 at 15:35:15 UT (Baikonur)
Outcome:	Failed in Harlli orbit, fourth stage disintegrated.

Although the fourth stage failed again on two of the launches, the second of three worked and provided the Soviets with their first spacecraft to Mars. Unfortunately, as in the case of Venera 1 it was immediately clear that Mars 1 had attitude control problems. The inability to perform a midcourse maneuver ruled out the desired close flyby of Mars. On the other hand, communications with Mars 1 were maintained for almost 5 months before it fell silent about half w ay to its target.

Spacecraft:

The 2M V Mars spacecraft were virtually identical to the versions described in detail above for the 1962 Venus missions. Although we have no description of the 300 kg entry probe of the 2M-3 No. l spacecraft we know7 it w7as not designed as a lander but as a simple spherical entry system containing a parachute, radio, and instruments intended for measurements during descent. Surviving impact must have been more a hope than a goal. In fact, since the designers had no idea just how thin the Martian atmosphere is. the entry probe would have crashed into the surface before any useful data could have been returned.

The Mars 1 spacecraft is depicted in Figure 8.4 in a stand. Above the stand is the pressurized compartment containing the scientific instruments for the flyby. Next is the ‘orbital’ compartment. The large port in the front is the star sensor, and to the right of that is the Sun sensor. The gas bottles for the attitude control system are on
the waist separating the two compartments. Topping the spacecraft is the propulsion system. The parabolic high gain antenna is fixed pointing in the opposite direction to the solar panels, and there are hemispherical radiators mounted on the ends of the panels.

Launch mass: 893.5 kg (Mars 1)

1.097 kg (probe version)

305 kg ‘

Figure 8.4 Mars 1 spacecraft, front (left) and back (right) views.

Payload:

Many of the instruments developed for the 2MV Mars spacecraft were removed in order to accommodate systems to monitor the fourth stage of the launcher. There is no information on how many were actually removed, but the magnetometer and the flyby imaging system are known to have been carried by Mars 1.

The original set of instruments is given in this list.

Carrier spacecraft:

1. Magnetometer to measure the magnetic field

2. Scintillation counters to detect radiation belts and cosmic rays

3. Gas discharge Geiger counters

4. Cherenkov detector

5. Ion traps for electrons, ions and low-energy protons.

6. Radio to detect cosmic waves in the 150 to 1,500 meter band

7. Micrometeoroid detector

Descent I landing capsule:

1. Temperature, pressure and density sensors

2. Chemical gas analyzer

3. Gamma-ray detector system to measure radiation from the surface

4. Mercury level movement detector

Flyby instrument module:

1. Facsimile imaging system to photograph the surface

2. Ultraviolet spectrometer in the camera system for ozone detection

3. Infrared spectrometer to search for organic compounds

These instruments were identical to those built for the Venus mission, except that the Mars infrared spectrometer operated in the 3 to 4 micron C-H band to search for organic compounds and vegetation on the surface of Mars.

Mission description:

Two of the three missions were lost to the new and as yet unreliable fourth stage. The 2MV-4 No.3 Mars flyby was launched on October 24, 1962, but failed to leave parking orbit when the fourth stage turbo pump failed after 17 seconds due either to a foreign particle in the assembly or to the pump overheating after a lubricant leak. The fourth stage and spacecraft broke into five large pieces that re-entered over the course of the next few’ days. The US Ballistic Missile Early Warning System radar in

Figure 8.5 Mars 1 shortly prior to liftoff.

Alaska, which was at a state of high alert in the midst of the Cuban missile crisis, dc tec ted the debris after launch and was initially concerned that it might represent a Soviet nuclear ICBM attack, but rapid analysis of the debris pattern put this fear to rest.

The rocket carrying the second spacecraft was rolled out to the pad the next day. October 25, at the peak of the missile crisis. Shortly thereafter the firing range was ordered to battle readiness, which required the preparation for launch of the two R-7 combat missiles. One of these was stationed at the launch site where the Mars rocket stood. Stored in a corner of the Assembly and Test Building, it was uncovered and the launch team switched from supporting the Mars launch to preparing the missile. Fortunately, when the order to stand down came on October 27 the Mars rocket had not yet been removed from the launch pad. The 2MV-4 No.4 flyby spacecraft was successfully launched on the optimum date of the window, November 1, and became the first spacecraft to be sent towards Mars. The mission was named Mars 1. Just as in the case of Venera 1, a serious problem was discovered immediately after launch. The pressure in one of the two nitrogen gas containers was dropping rapidly because of a leaking valve. Later analysis showed that manufacturing had allowed debris to foul one of the valves. The outgassing caused the spacecraft to tumble out of control. When the tank drained after several days, ground controllers managed to use the gas in the remaining tank to halt the tumbling, restore the spacecraft to the desired Sun pointing attitude and spin it at 6 revolutions per hour so that the batteries would be continuously recharged from the solar panels. But by then most of the dry nitrogen for the cold gas jets of the attitude control system and for pressurizing the engine was expended. The backup gyro system used for attitude control was not designed for continuous use. Stuck in the backup Sun pointing spin mode, the spacecraft was unable to point its high gain antenna at the Earth or to make a midcourse correction. The Earth link was maintained through the UHF system and the medium-gain semi­directional antennas. Contact was established every 2 days for the first 6 weeks, and then every 5 days thereafter. On March 2. 1963, the signal strength began to decline and communications were lost on March 21, probably due to a final breakdown of the attitude control system at the unprecedented range of 106,760,000 km. The silent spacecraft would have passed Mars at a distance of about 193,000 km on June 19, 1963; the intended flyby distance was between 1.000 and 10.000 km.

The third spacecraft to be launched, 2MV-3 No. l, was stranded when the fourth stage failed to reignite properly. Vibrations in the core stage caused by cavitation in its oxidizer lines had dislodged a fuse and igniter in the fourth stage. Its engine was commanded to shut down after 33 seconds. The Americans detected five pieces of debris whose origins were unclear. The spacecraft is believed to have re-entered on January 19, 1963.

Of the six 2M V spacecraft launched between August and November 1962, four were lost to failures of the fourth stage, one was lost to a failure of both the third and fourth stages. The other one was launched successfully and named Mars 1, but failed in transit. No more 2MV spacecraft were built. The design wras improved to produce the 3MV spacecraft for the next series of Mars and Venus missions in 1964 1965.

In the US, the orbital remains of the 1962 Venus and Mars spacecraft, including

Mars 1, were designated as Sputniks 19 to 24 in order of launch. All the spacecraft stranded in parking orbit re-entered within days.

Results:

No information was obtained on Mars. However, Mars 1 did acquire data during its cruise before it fell silent. The radiation zones around Earth were detected, and the distribution and flux of particles were measured. Л third zone at 80,000 km was detected. The solar wind and magnetic fields were measured in interplanetary space to a farther distance than Venera 1. Л solar wind storm was measured on November 30, 1962. ‘flic intensity of cosmic rays had almost doubled since 1959 due to a less active Sun. The micrometeoroid collision rate decreased with distance from Earth and showed intermittent increases as meteoroid showers were traversed. The Taurid meteor shower w as encountered twice at ranges from 6,000 to 40.000 km, and again at distances from 20 to 40 million km. with a strike rate of one every 2 minutes on average.