The Rocky Soviet Road To Mars
by
Larry Klaes
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The planet Mars has long been considered the first planet beyond
Earth upon which humans will land and explore, possibly within the
first decades of the Twenty-First Century. Already the United States
and Soviet Union have sent a series of unmanned probes to the Red Planet,
serving as "scouts" for eventual manned missions long in the planning
stages.
While the United States can boast of having had successful Mars
missions, the Soviet Union has been less fortunate: The recent demise
of their two PHOBOS spacecraft stand as a testament to the Soviet's
rocky road to the Red Planet.
It is important to look back on the Soviet's history of unmanned
Mars missions to see what has gone wrong, what they have achieved, and
what can be learned to create better exploration projects. Such studies
will allow future Soviet and U.S. probes to gain more information and to
pave the way for successful manned journeys in the future.
The first attempts to explore Mars by spacecraft began in 1960
from the Soviet Union, just three years after the nation had placed
the first artificial satellite, SPUTNIK 1, into Earth orbit. On
October 10 and 14, two probes were launched from the Tyuratam Space
Center towards an Earth parking orbit before their planned journey to
Mars. The first probe, designated MARS 1960A by the West, had a
failure in the third stage turbopumps of its A-2-e (MOLNIYA) rocket
launcher and did not obtain the desired orbit. The second probe,
MARS 1960B, suffered a similar fate. Though no details have ever
been released on these probes by the Soviets, they may have weighed
850 kilograms (1,870 pounds) and were intended to flyby the target
planet in May of 1961.
There was also the rumor that Soviet Premier Nikita Kruschev, who
was attending a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in New
York at the time of the launches, had brought a model of the vehicles
with him to show off Soviet technological prowess at the Assembly.
When LUNA 2 became the first spacecraft to reach Earth's Moon in 1959,
Kruschev had personally delivered a model of the lunar probe to U.S.
President Dwight Eisenhower during a summit meeting; but when the Mars
launches failed, Kruschev's model never appeared in public.
A third Mars probe mission in 1960 was believed for years to
have been tied in to reports of a major rocket disaster, which the
Soviets did not admit to officially, until a press release by
Aleksandr Bolotin in the Soviet weekly magazine OGONYOK in April of
1989. The article stated that, contrary to information gathered
earlier by Soviet space expert James Oberg, a rocket which exploded
on the launch pad at Tyuratam on October 24, 1960 was not carrying a
Mars probe, but was an attempt to launch an R-16 InterContinental
Ballistic Missile (ICBM), better known in the West as the SS-7 SADDLER,
which was designed and built by the Yangel Bureau. The R-16 explosion
killed dozens, perhaps hundreds, of engineers and technicians at the
launch site, including the Soviet official in charge of the rocket
project, Field Marshall Mitrofan Nedelin, Commander in Chief of the
Strategic Rocket Forces. There may have been a third unsuccessful
Soviet attempt to send an unmanned probe to Mars by the end of 1960
after the first two failures, but this has yet to be confirmed.
Despite all that had gone wrong with their Mars probes in 1960,
the Soviets were ready to send unmanned spacecraft to the Red Planet
again when the next launch window arrived in 1962 (A launch window is
the period of time when Earth and Mars are so aligned in their solar
orbits that a relatively large payload can be sent using the least
amount of rocket energy, saving both time and fuel). The first of the
three probes launched that year, MARS 1962A, did obtain Earth parking
orbit on October 24, but half an hour after the orbital insertion, the
rocket stage attached to the probe - which would have sent the vehicle
on to Mars - unexpectedly exploded. The resulting debris sailed on,
and was soon picked up by several Ballistic Missile Early Warning System
(BMEWS) stations in the Northern Hemisphere. There were a few anxious
moments that the debris might have been an incoming Soviet nuclear
missile attack on the U.S. (the launch had occurred during the height
of the Cuban Missile Crisis), but the defense computers quickly
determined that this was not the case, and World War Three was abated.
A second Mars probe was launched from Tyuratam on November 1,
and it became the first such Soviet vehicle to actually leave Earth
orbit. The Soviets officially announced the probe's existence and
intentions to the rest of the world, and designated it MARS 1. The
Soviets also released pictures and descriptions of the craft: MARS 1
was a 893.5 kilogram (1,970 pound) spacecraft consisting of a
cylindrical "bus" 3.3 meters (10.89 feet) long which housed both
scientific instruments and course correction engines. The bus was
flanked on either side by solar panels which supplied power to the
instruments, and a high-gain "umbrella" antenna located on the front
of the bus. This same basic design has been used for Soviet Mars and
Venus probes from that time to the present, albeit with some upgrades
and modifications.
The main objectives of MARS 1 were to study the interplanetary
medium on its way and to flyby Mars at a distance of less than 11,000
kilometers (6,600 miles) and to photograph the planet's surface. MARS 1
was to have also sent back measurements on Mars' magnetic and radiation
fields, cosmic radiation, micrometeoroid impacts, and even indications
of organic compounds on the planet using a "spectroreflexometer" device.
The mission proceeded well through early 1963. On March 16, MARS 1
broke the distance record for interplanetary communication recently
set by the first successful U.S. Venus probe, MARINER 2 - 86.7 million
kilometers (52.02 million miles). Sadly, this was to have been one of
the probe's last accomplishments. Several days later, Soviet controllers
noted that MARS 1 was having troubles with its orientation system, and
when the craft could not keep its communications antenna locked on Earth,
all contact was lost. It is believed that MARS 1 did fly past its
target planet on June 19 at a distance of 193,000 kilometers (115,800
miles), but returned no data. The Soviets blamed an errant meteoroid
which struck the probe and broke the ground link. Some Western experts
blamed the loss on a faulty attitude control and/or communications system
which had reached its technological design limits. In any event, it was
a dark sign of things to come for the Soviet Mars program.
Three days after MARS 1 had been launched in 1962, another Mars
probe, unofficially designated MARS 1962B, was put into Earth orbit;
but like 1962A, it too broke up before leaving orbit. The spacecraft
and rocket debris eventually burned up upon re-entering Earth's
atmosphere in the ensuing months, the last pieces disintegrating on
January 19, 1963. The Soviets did not acknowledge its existence.
The next good window for launches to Mars took place in late
1964, and this time the Soviets were not alone in exploring Mars with
spacecraft. The United States sent two unmanned probes to Mars on
flyby photographic missions: The first one, MARINER 3, ceased
functioning soon after its launch on November 5 when the protective
shroud around the craft failed to eject. Unable to open its solar
panels to receive energy, the probe's batteries were soon exhausted
and MARINER 3 drifted off into solar orbit dead. NASA scientists
quickly corrected the problem with its sister probe, MARINER 4, and
it was successfully sent to Mars on November 28.
Two days later, the Soviets launched a Mars probe with the generic
name of ZOND 2 (Zond is the Soviet word for probe). Its intentions
were similar to the MARINERs, and there was speculation in the West
that ZOND 2 also carried a capsule lander to study the Martian surface.
The evidence for a lander was based on its estimated weight of 1,145
kilograms (2,519 pounds), 251.5 kilograms (553.3 pounds) heavier than
MARS 1, which had no lander, plus the fact that ZOND 2 seemed to have
been launched to minimize its arrival speed at Mars, thus reducing the
problems of atmospheric entry for a lander. One device verified aboard
the spacecraft was a set of six experimental plasma (ion) engines
designed to assist in attitude control. In spite of this technical
innovation, it was noted soon after launch that ZOND 2's initial power
supply was fifty percent below the expected level. This may have
contributed to the loss of communications with the craft in April of
1965. ZOND 2 was later estimated to have flown past Mars at a distance
of roughly 1,488 kilometers (930 miles) on August 6, 1965, less than
one month after MARINER 4 flew by Mars and obtained the first close-up
photographs of the Martian surface (twenty-two in all).
There was some concern for a while that ZOND 2 had actually impacted
on the planet, as it was not decontaminated of Earth micro-organisms
before its launch. Western scientists feared that the bacteria might
"interfere" with any Martian organisms present, or could at least confuse
future missions searching for life into thinking that Earth organisms
possibly deposited by ZOND 2 were native to Mars. In any event, no
impact has ever been confirmed.
Though the Mars launch window had passed by 1965, the Soviets sent
up another ZOND probe on July 18 of that year. ZOND 3 was designed to
be an engineering test of spacecraft systems for future Mars and Venus
missions, no doubt due in part to the concern over previous mission
failures. ZOND 3 flew past the far side of Earth's Moon on July 20,
where it took the first photographs of the lunar farside since LUNA 3 in
1959. Soviet controllers then sent the probe on a trajectory out to the
orbit of Mars. As ZOND 3 sailed outward, it transmitted back its lunar
photos at various distances in a test of the communications system.
ZOND 3 continued to transmit data on interplanetary space until March of
1966, when it was 153.5 million kilometers (337.7 million miles) from
Earth. Though ZOND 3 did cross the orbit of Mars, the craft was nowhere
near the planet at the time.
The 1967 launch window to Mars was passed up by both the Soviets
and U.S. as they concentrated on sending spacecraft to explore Venus
during that period, as well as preparing for more ambitious unmanned
missions to the Red Planet. While the U.S. was building its next series
of more sophisticated flyby probes - MARINER 6 and 7, which completed
successful photographic surveys in 1969 - the Soviets were testing their
next generation of Mars explorers in the atmosphere and in Earth orbit.
Throughout the late 1960s, there were reports of the Soviets testing a
lander capsule aeroshell and parachute system for a future series of
unmanned Mars landers. These flight models were dropped at high
altitudes from aircraft to test their aerodynamic capabilities, much
as the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in the U.S. was doing with its
VOYAGER mock-ups (later to be known as VIKING) around the same time.
In 1969, two (and possibly three) spacecraft of the new Soviet
Mars exploration series were launched. Weighing far more than any
earlier Mars craft (approximately 3,500 kilograms/7,700 pounds), they
were sent aloft on the powerful D-1-e (PROTON) rocket booster. These
probes most likely consisted of a flyby bus which would drop a lander
on the Martian surface as the bus headed on into solar orbit.
Unfortunately these latest spacecraft were plagued by old technical
problems: MARS 1969A, launched March 27, was destroyed on its way
into an Earth parking orbit when the PROTON booster exploded in
mid-flight. MARS 1969B, launched on April 14, may have been destroyed
in the same manner as its sister probe, as it too never achieved Earth
orbit. A third member of this set, MARS 1969C, reportedly never even
left the launch pad at Tyuratam, for reasons which are still unknown.
All in all, it was not a glorious beginning to such an ambitious new
program.
Nineteen seventy-one was a very busy year for exploring Mars with
spacecraft, in part because the launch window was so favorable. The
first U.S. and Soviet attempts failed miserably: MARINER 8, launched
on May 9, ended up in the Atlantic Ocean instead of around Mars when an
autopilot fault in the ATLAS-CENTAUR rocket sent the craft off course.
The Soviets had equally bad luck the next day: What might have been
officially designated a MARS probe instead became COSMOS 419 when the
vehicle failed to leave its parking orbit around Earth. Initial success
was achieved nine days later, when MARS 2 escaped Earth's gravitational
well. It was followed on May 28 by MARS 3. The U.S. rounded out the
Mars launches two days after MARS 3 with MARINER 9, which also found
its way on to the fourth planet from the Sun.
MARS 2 and 3 were more advanced than previous Soviet Mars probes:
Weighing 4,650 kilograms (10,250 pounds) each, the probes carried two
450-kilogram (990-pound) landers designed to photograph and examine the
Martian surface. The lander design was based on that of the 1966 LUNA 9
and 13 Moon probes: A sphere kept upright by four metal "petals" which
opened around the lander's base after landing. The crafts' main buses
contained rocket thrusters designed to brake the probes for insertion
into orbit around Mars, where they would serve both as scientific
stations and as orbital relays for the landers' signals back to Earth.
Even the project's design team was of a new generation, averaging less
than thirty years in age. The team was supervised by veteran mission
specialists.
Although it was launched from Earth later, MARINER 9 arrived at
the Red Planet earlier than its Soviet counterparts, and became the
first spacecraft to orbit Mars on November 14, 1971. MARS 2 came
on the scene November 27, followed by MARS 3 on December 2. While
this was going on, far below the vessels a global dust storm had
enveloped Mars, with no signs of abating. For MARINER 9 this meant
few visible surface features to photograph while it waited for the
dust storm to clear, but for the Soviet probes the consequences were
far greater.
Due to design limitations, the Soviet probes had to release their
landers before injecting themselves into Mars orbit; they could not
wait for the dust storm to end like MARINER 9 did. MARS 2 ejected
its lander 4.5 hours before going into orbit. The plan was for the
lander to enter the thin Martian atmosphere at supersonic speeds
protected from heat friction with the air by an aeroshield. Once
past this critical phase of the descent, the shield would be ejected
after a parachute was released to slow the craft even further. Just
before touchdown, the lander would fire retrorockets to cushion the
landing impact to a survivable velocity. On the surface, the metal
"petals" would open outward to balance the lander, which would
immediately start to relay a panoramic view of its surroundings to
the orbiting bus for transmission to Earth. The lander would then
carry out various measurements of the immediate environment until its
battery power was exhausted.
Sadly, the MARS 2 lander's mission was to be cut drastically short.
Whether because of the dust storm or mechanical problems, the lander
apparently crashed onto the surface at 45 degrees south/58 degrees east
in the planet's southern hemisphere. Though no data was returned from
the lander, it does hold the distinction of being the first human-made
vehicle to reach the surface of Mars. The MARS 2 bus subsequently went
into an orbit ranging in altitude from 1,380 to 25,000 kilometers
(828 to 15,000 miles), circling the planet once every eighteen hours.
MARS 3 initially had better luck than its counterpart. Arriving
in orbit on December 2, the lander headed towards the surface, where
it came down three minutes later in Mars' southern hemisphere at
45 degrees south/158 degrees west between the regions Electris and
Phaethontis. Ninety seconds later, the craft's timer mechanism ordered
a panoramic scan of the lander's surroundings; but just twenty seconds
into the scan, the signals ceased. A partial picture was returned,
but it "did not reveal any noticeable difference in the contrast of
details", according to a Soviet report. Once again the Soviets blamed
the dust storm which was engulfing Mars as the reason for the demise
of the lander - it may have been saturated with fine sand, or knocked
over by strong winds - but some Western analysts suggest that the
MARS 3 orbiter had some telemetry problems, not the lander.
With the lander missions now permanently defunct, Soviet
controllers concentrated on the scientific studies made by the orbiters.
Photographing the planet's surface proved frustrating, as the dust storm
continued to blot out most Martian features. After several weeks the
imaging part of the mission was given secondary status, while MARS 2
and 3 concentrated on measuring the Martian atmosphere and surface.
The orbiters discovered atomic hydrogen and oxygen in the upper
atmosphere, and that the average temperature on the surface ranged
from 13 degrees Celsius (55.4 degrees Fahrenheit) at noon to -110
degrees Celsius (-230 degrees Fahrenheit) at night. Portions of the
planet's night side were found to be twenty to twenty-five degrees
warmer than some of their immediate surroundings. Atmospheric pressure
on the ground was recorded at 5.5 to 6 millibars (by comparison, air
pressure on Earth averages 1,013 millibars at sea level), and water
vapor was scarce. The orbiters were subsequently turned off in March
of 1972, several months after the dust storm had settled down. It
should be noted that MARS 2 and 3 were the first Soviet spacecraft to
actually arrive at the Red Planet while still communicating with Earth.
By 1973 the United States had announced plans to send two
spacecraft to Mars which would not only study the planet from orbit
in more detail than before, but also land two vehicles which would
study the Martian surface and search for signs of micro-organisms.
These probes were known as VIKING 1 and 2, and would be launched
from Cape Canaveral in Florida in late 1975.
Perhaps spurred on by this ambitious U.S. plan for exploring Mars,
the Soviets launched their most complex mission to Mars in 1973, in
an attempt to gain some prestige, after the U.S.'s impressive
accomplishments at the Red Planet. Since 1973 did not possess the most
favorable window to launch an orbiter-lander combination Mars probe
(the PROTON rocket could not handle the weight load of such a vehicle
in such a "steep" window), the exploration tasks were divided amongst
four vessels: MARS 4 and 5 would orbit the planet, relaying not only
scientific data but telemetry from the landers, which would be deposited
on the Martian surface by MARS 6 and 7. The buses of the landers would
sail on into solar orbit after delivering their loads. MARS 4 was
launched first on July 21, followed by MARS 5 four days later. MARS 6
was sent aloft the following month, on August 5, with MARS 7 bringing
up the rear three days later.
Being the first of the series launched, MARS 4 also arrived at Mars
first on February 10, 1974; but instead of going into orbit as planned,
the probe's main braking engine failed to fire, and MARS 4 drifted past
the planet at an altitude of 2,200 kilometers (1,320 miles) before
heading off into an unscheduled orbit around the Sun. MARS 4 did relay
a number of pictures of the Martian surface as it flew by the planet.
MARS 5 reached the Red Planet just two days after its sister
orbiter, successfully firing its breaking engines for orbital insertion,
which ranged in altitude from 1,760 to 32,560 kilometers (1,056 to
19,536 miles), making one revolution around Mars in just over twenty-
four hours. In addition to its original scientific duties, MARS 5 also
had to serve as the communications relay for the MARS 6 lander, since
MARS 4 was no longer available to do the job. Together with MARS 4,
MARS 5 took sixty images of the Martian surface, comparable in quality
to those taken by MARINER 9 two years earlier. In fact, MARS 5 gave the
first serious evidence that most of Mars' surface was bright orange-red
in color (the color filters on MARINER 9 had malfunctioned very early in
its mission). The Soviet probe's findings were later corroborated by the
VIKING orbiter images. MARS 5 also found an ozone layer thirty kilometers
(eighteen miles) above the planet's surface. In addition, the probe
revealed that the outermost layer of the atmosphere consisted of atomic
hydrogen twenty thousand kilometers (twelve thousand miles) above the
planet. MARS 5 was the only Soviet Mars probe which accomplished all of
its planned tasks to date. The Soviets did not reveal when the craft's
mission was terminated.
MARS 7 was the first of the flyby/lander probes to arrive, the bus
ejecting its lander towards the planet on March 9, 1974. Unfortunately,
though the lander was intended to land at 50 degrees south/28 degrees
west, it instead missed the entire planet by 1,300 kilometers (780 miles),
apparently due to a major fault in either its solid-propellant motor
or attitude control system. The second flyby/lander, MARS 6, was the
last of the set to reach Mars, successfully deploying its lander on
March 12. The lander performed as designed during its descent to the
surface, relaying back to Earth the first direct atmospheric readings
of Mars, which seemed to indicate a high concentration of argon. Two
minutes and twenty-eight seconds into the descent - just twenty seconds
away from touching down at 24 degrees south/25 degrees west - signals
from the lander ceased. Why contact with the lander stopped is unknown,
but it was certainly a disappointing end to the series. Even the argon
reading made by MARS 6 was found to be erroneous two years later by the
successful VIKING probes.
A combination of discouragement and replanning - plus the great
accomplishments of the VIKING probes from 1976 to 1982 - was no doubt
part of the reason why the Soviets launched no more unmanned Mars
missions after the MARS 4-7 series until almost the end of the next
decade, when a new generation of probes and commitments to Mars
exploration were made with the PHOBOS series.
PHOBOS was different from all previous Soviet Mars missions,
not only in the fact that it was the first such project announced
by the Soviets to the world several years in advance of its launching,
but also in its spacecraft design and goals: The 6,000 kilogram
(13,200 pound) probes were aimed to explore the relatively tiny Martian
moon Phobos (and possibly even its smaller natural satellite, Deimos)
with a number of small landers, a first in space history. Studying
the Martian moons would also be of great benefit to future human
explorers, as the satellites' proximities to Mars and weak gravities
serve as excellent "space stations" for crews preparing to land on Mars.
Two PHOBOS spacecraft would be launched from Earth in the summer
of 1988 and go into orbit around Mars early the following year. The
orbiters would wait several months, studying Mars and its moons while
they achieved the proper trajectory to flyby Phobos at the incredibly
low altitude of fifty meters (165 feet). It would be at this point
that the orbiters would drop off three landers (one from PHOBOS 1 and
two from its sister craft), two of which would anchor themselves by
means of a harpoon into the dusty surface of the small moon, while the
other would use a metal bar to move across Phobos' surface by "hopping"
until its batteries ran out of power. The landers would send images
and information about the moon to their orbiters, which would relay the
data to Earth. The United States would play a vital role in the
communications aspect of the mission - just as the Jordell Bank radio
telescope in Great Britain had done for the Soviets in their Mars
missions two decades earlier - by using NASA's Deep Space Network (DSN)
of radar to pick up PHOBOS' weak signals. The complexities of the
mission and the international cooperation was meant to be a sign of
things to come in the Soviet's new ambitions towards exploring the Red
Planet.
PHOBOS 1 left the launch pad at Tyuratam on July 7, 1988, aboard
the PROTON rocket booster. PHOBOS 2 was sent to Mars on July 12.
While the probes were in transit towards the Red Planet, studies of
the Sun and the solar environment were being carried out. On August 31,
PHOBOS 1 was being prepared for an international solar experiment.
During one of the regular communication sessions with the probe, a
message with one character accidentally omitted was sent to the craft.
This seemingly minor incident quickly snowballed as PHOBOS 1 was
subsequently given a computer command to shut off its attitude control
system. The resulting error caused the probe to begin tumbling, aiming
its solar panels away from the Sun. Power in the spacecraft dropped
dramatically until it could no longer function, and communications ceased.
Despite several days of intense efforts by the Soviets to re-establish
contact, PHOBOS 1 was permanently silent.
Mission officials became extremely cautious about ensuring the
continued functioning of PHOBOS 2, as it was now the only PHOBOS
spacecraft left to carry out the mission objectives. But even their
pampering was not enough to keep PHOBOS 2 from developing troubles of
its own: As the probe neared Mars, the main fifty watt transmitter
malfunctioned, leaving only the five watt backup to keep the craft in
touch with Earth. The main bus cameras and several scientific
instruments also malfunctioned, though they were later corrected as
PHOBOS 2 went into Mars orbit on January 29, 1989. For the next two
months, the craft spent its time examining Mars and Phobos, while
adjusting its altitude above the planet to match that of its target
moon. Placement of the two landers on the surface of Phobos was set
to occur around April 7.
On March 27, almost two months to the day after PHOBOS 2 was
placed in orbit around the Red Planet, controllers ordered the craft
to orient itself to take photographs of Phobos. Since the probe's
main antenna was not on a separate swivel platform from the orbiter,
the entire craft had to be turned away from Earth while the picture
set was being taken. It would then reorient itself to transmit the
images to Earth.
Instead, the technical problems which have haunted the Soviet
Mars missions since their beginning caught up with PHOBOS 2: The
orbiter turned away for the imaging, but did not turn back. For two
hours after the mishap, Soviet controllers tried to raise the probe.
They were rewarded for thirteen minutes when faint signals were received
from the craft, but soon after the signals disappeared and PHOBOS 2
was not heard from again. It was surmised that, like its sister probe,
PHOBOS 2 soon began to tumble without control from Earth, and lost
all power when its solar panels moved away from direct sunlight.
Two main theories arose as to the cause of PHOBOS 2's silence:
Either a piece of debris - perhaps a meteor or even the probe's
jettisoned propulsion module - had struck the spacecraft, disorienting
it and pointing the antenna away from Earth, or the attitude control
system - possibly a faulty gyroscope - had malfunctioned when the craft
turned away from Earth to photograph its target moon, and could not aim
the spacecraft back at its planet of origin. Project officials have
since come to agree that the second theory, mechanical failure, was the
culprit. The Soviets officially wrote off PHOBOS 2 on April 18, 1989.
Ironically, the orbit of PHOBOS 2 might inadvertently cause the probe
to become the first human-made vehicle to reach the surface of the
Martian moon, though certainly not in a manner it was intended to.
Before the PHOBOS probes were sent on their way, the Soviets had
outlined an ambitious program of Mars missions, leading up to a manned
landing by the year 2025. While the timetables will most likely be
readjusted in light of the PHOBOS failures, it is hoped that the Soviets
will continue with their plans, undaunted by the past. One new element
in the plans for exploration could be the launching of PHOBOS 3 in 1992,
the next favorable launch window to Mars. Formerly the ground test
vehicle for its predecessors, PHOBOS 3 could be refurbished for a space
mission and sent out to take over the scientific tasks so abruptly
abandoned by PHOBOS 1 and 2.
Other Soviet Mars vehicles include a combined orbiter/balloon/
lander mission in 1994, where a French-made balloon with an instrument
package suspended underneath would float over the Martian surface
through the planet's thin atmosphere, while smaller probes would
either be soft-landed or penetrated into the reddish soil to take
direct readings of surface conditions.
An ambitious project planned for launch in 1996 would involve
a Phobos probe that would actually land on the surface of the Martian
moon and return samples of Phobos to Earth, while other spacecraft
instruments would remain on Phobos for further observations.
The next project calls for a robot lander to place an unmanned
rover on the Martian surface, designed to explore the planet with a
far greater range than the immobile VIKING landers could. If successful,
this could lead up to a joint rover/sample return mission conducted by
the Soviets and United States: The U.S. would provide a rover that would
bring samples of Martian soil and rock to a Soviet lander, which would
then launch the precious cargo back to Earth for direct examination (if
the rover failed to function properly, the Soviet lander would still have
the ability to scoop up some soil at its touchdown site for return to
Earth). The Twenty-First Century might also see a manned Soviet mission
to orbit Mars, with an eventual surface expedition as a prelude to
colonization. These expeditions could be carried out as joint ventures
with the U.S. and other nations, creating numerous scientific and
political benefits in the process.
The Soviets have had a difficult three decades in exploring Mars
with spacecraft, but not without some important accomplishments.
It is hoped that they will not be daunted by their setbacks, as it
should be realized that humans are still pioneering the exploration of
space, in spite of our numerous advances. The time, effort, and human
lives spent in reaching other worlds should not be in vain because
of technological and political obstacles. All nations have had their
initial failures when exploring space, only to eventually succeed in
one capacity or another.
Our future descendants on Mars and throughout the Solar System
will thank us for our efforts.
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Hart, Douglas, THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SOVIET SPACECRAFT, Exeter Books,
New York, 1987. ISBN 0-671-08932-3.
Johnson, Nicholas L., THE SOVIET YEAR IN SPACE 1988, Teledyne Brown
Engineering, Colorado Springs, Colorado, 1989.
Miles, Frank, and Nicholas Booth, RACE TO MARS: THE MARS FLIGHT
ATLAS, Harper and Row, Publishers, New York, 1988. ISBN 0-06-016005-5.
Oberg, James E., UNCOVERING SOVIET DISASTERS: EXPLORING THE LIMITS
OF GLASNOST, Random House, Inc., New York, 1988. ISBN 0-394-56095-7.
Smith, Arthur, PLANETARY EXPLORATION: THIRTY YEARS OF UNMANNED
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First published in THE ELECTRONIC JOURNAL OF THE ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY OF THE ATLANTIC, Volume 1, Number 3 - October 1989. Copyright © 1989, Larry Klaes |
Last Update: 02/22/02