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Mars 5
Mission type Mars orbiter [1]
Operator Lavochkin
COSPAR ID 1973-049A Edit this at Wikidata
SATCAT no.6754
Mission durationIn Mars Orbit: 50 years, 2 months and 4 days
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft 3MS No.53S
Manufacturer Lavochkin
Launch mass3,440 kilograms (7,580 lb) [2]
Start of mission
Launch date25 July 1973, 18:55:48 (1973-07-25UTC18:55:48Z) UTC [3]
Rocket Proton-K/ D
Launch site Baikonur 81/24
End of mission
Last contact28 February 1974 (1974-03-01)
Orbital parameters
Reference system Areocentric
Periareon altitude1,760 kilometres (1,090 mi)
Apoareon altitude35,300 kilometres (21,900 mi)
Inclination35.3 degrees
Epoch12 February 1974
Mars orbiter
Orbital insertion12 February 1974, 15:45 UTC [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]

Spacecraft

The Mars 5 spacecraft carried an array of instruments to study Mars. In addition to cameras, it was equipped with a radio telescope, an IR radiometer, multiple photometers, polarimeters, a magnetometer, plasma traps, an electrostatic analyser, a gamma-ray spectrometer, and a radio probe. [5] The Three cameras were a 52mm Vega, a 350mm Zulfar and a panoramic camera. [6]

Built by Lavochkin, Mars 5 was the second of two 3MS spacecraft launched to Mars in 1973, following Mars 4. A 3MS was also launched during the 1971 launch window as Kosmos 419. However, due to a launch failure, it failed to depart Earth orbit. In addition to the orbiters, two 3MP lander missions, Mars 6 and Mars 7, were launched during the 1973 window.

Launch

Mars 5 was launched by a Proton-K carrier rocket with a Blok D upper stage, flying from Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 81/24. [3] The launch occurred at 18:55:48 UTC on 25 July 1973, with the first three stages placing the spacecraft and upper stage into a low Earth parking orbit before the Blok D fired to propel Mars 5 into heliocentric orbit bound for Mars.

The spacecraft performed course correction manoeuvres on 3 August 1973 and 2 February 1974. [5]

Mars orbit

The probe reached Mars on 12 February 1974. At 14:44:25 the spacecraft's engines ignited to begin its orbit insertion burn, which successfully placed it into an Areocentric orbit with a periapsis of 1,760 kilometres (1,090 mi), an apoapsis of 32,586 kilometres (20,248 mi), and 35.3 degrees inclination. [4] [5]

The spacecraft's pressurised instrument compartment began to leak as soon as the spacecraft entered orbit around Mars, which controllers believed to be the result of a micrometeoroid impact during orbital insertion. It ceased operations on 28 February, having returned 180 photographic frames, 43 of which were of usable quality. [5] The probe's original planned lifetime in Mars orbit had been three months. [7] The probe's gamma ray spectrometer measured the uranium, thorium and potassium content of the surface the probe passed over and found they were similar to igneous rocks on Earth. [7] The exact ratios of the elements varied with the age of the surface. [7] Mars 5's Infrared radiometer reported a daytime surface temperature of between −44 and −2 °C (−47 and 28 °F). [6] [7] Night time temperatures were measured at −73 °C (−99 °F). [7]

The probe also made a number of observations of Mars's atmosphere. [7] It found an ozone layer at an altitude of 30 kilometres (19 mi) and observed clouds. [7]

See also

References

  1. ^ Krebs, Gunter. "Interplanetary Probes". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 12 April 2013.
  2. ^ "Mars 5". Retrieved 6 December 2018.
  3. ^ a b McDowell, Jonathan. "Launch Log". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved 12 April 2013.
  4. ^ a b c "Mars 5". US National Space Science Data Centre. Retrieved 12 April 2013.
  5. ^ a b c d Siddiqi, Asif A. (2002). "1973". Deep Space Chronicle: A Chronology of Deep Space and Planetary Probes 1958-2000 (PDF). Monographs in Aerospace History, No. 24. NASA History Office. pp. 101–106. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 September 2004.
  6. ^ a b Harvey, Brian (2007). Russian Planetary Exploration History, Development, Legacy and Prospects. Springer-Praxis. p. 154. ISBN  9780387463438.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Harvey, Brian (2007). Russian Planetary Exploration History, Development, Legacy and Prospects. Springer-Praxis. pp. 161–165. ISBN  9780387463438.

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