Mars 1969A

Mars 1969A, also known as Mars 69A in Soviet documentation, was one of two identical probes (the other being Mars 1969B), each consisting of an orbiter and an atmospheric probe. The mission was never officially announced by the Soviet government.

After a two-year development program, Mars 69A was launched on March 27, 1969 on top of a Proton rocket, model SL-12. The first two stages of the rocket operated nominally, but a bearing failure in the third stage 438.66 seconds after launch led to a turbopump shutdown and fire, resulting in the rocket and payload exploding. Debris was strewn over the Altai mountains.

The probe was intended to image the Martian surface using three cameras that shot film directly and then encoded the images for television transmission back to Earth. Other instruments included a radiometer, water vapor detector, and a series of spectrometers.

External links

* [http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/database/MasterCatalog?sc=MARS69a NASA (NSSDC) information on Mars 69A]
* [http://athena.cornell.edu/mars_facts/past_missions_60s.html Cornell University's Mars Missions page]