This article is about the Soviet program. For other Mars exploration programs, see Exploration of Mars. For programs called Mars, see Mars (disambiguation).
The Mars program was a series of uncrewed spacecraft launched by the Soviet Union between 1960 and 1973. The spacecraft were intended to explore Mars, and included flyby probes, landers and orbiters.
Early Mars spacecraft were small, and launched by Molniya rockets. Starting with two failures in 1969, the heavier Proton-K rocket was used to launch larger 5 tonne spacecraft, consisting of an orbiter and a lander to Mars. The orbiter bus design was likely somewhat rushed into service and immature,[citation needed] considering that it performed very unreliably in the Venera variant after 1975. This reliability problem was common to much Soviet space hardware from the late 1960s and early 1970s and was largely corrected with a deliberate policy, implemented in the mid-1970s, of consolidating (or "debugging") existing designs rather than introducing new ones. The names of the "Mars" missions do not need to be translated, as the word "Mars" is spelled and pronounced approximately the same way in English and Russian.
In addition to the Mars program, the Soviet Union also sent a probe to Mars as part of the Zond program; Zond 2, however it failed en route. Two more spacecraft were sent during the Phobos program; both failed. In 1996, Russia launched Mars 96, its first interplanetary mission since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, however it failed to depart Earth orbit.
The Marsprogram was a series of uncrewed spacecraft launched by the Soviet Union between 1960 and 1973. The spacecraft were intended to explore Mars, and...
once infrastructure is established on Mars and launch cost is reduced, colonization can begin. The Marsprogram has been criticized by some people as...
Mars Exploration Program (MEP) is a long-term effort to explore the planet Mars, funded and led by NASA. Formed in 1993, MEP has made use of orbital spacecraft...
Mars Colonization of Mars Human mission to Mars Life on Mars List of artificial objects on Mars List of missions to MarsMars landing Mars race Mars rover...
Mars 3 was a robotic space probe of the Soviet Marsprogram, launched May 28, 1971, nine days after its twin spacecraft Mars 2. The probes were identical...
The Viking program consisted of a pair of identical American space probes, Viking 1 and Viking 2, which landed on Mars in 1976. The mission effort began...
facilitate human missions to Mars. Two principal elements of the Artemis program are derived from the now-cancelled Constellation program: the Orion spacecraft...
Zubrin's Mars Direct philosophy, which aims to make human missions to Mars as feasible as possible. The Mars Society generates interest in the Marsprogram by...
Ingenuity, and associated delivery systems, as part of the Mars Exploration Program. Mars 2020 was launched on an Atlas V rocket at 11:50:01 UTC on July...
for NASA's Mars Exploration Program. The project manager was JPL's Tony Spear. This mission was the first of a series of missions to Mars that included...
The Mars 2 was an uncrewed space probe of the Marsprogram, a series of uncrewed Mars landers and orbiters launched by the Soviet Union beginning 19 May...
Radio System (MARS) is a United States Department of Defense sponsored program, established as a separately managed and operated program by the United...
earliest missions of the Marsprogram. The Western media dubbed the spacecraft "Marsnik", a portmanteau of Mars and Sputnik. Mars 1M No.1, known in the West...
ultimate goal. The program's logo reflected the three stages of the program: the Earth (ISS), the Moon, and finally Mars—while the Mars goal also found expression...
The possibility of life on Mars is a subject of interest in astrobiology due to the planet's proximity and similarities to Earth. To date, no proof of...
the direction of Mars on November 1, 1962, the first of the Soviet Mars probe program, with the intent of flying by the planet at a distance of about 11...
Mars 4 (Russian: Марс-4), also known as 3MS No.52S was a Soviet spacecraft intended to explore Mars. A 3MS spacecraft launched as part of the Mars programme...
Colonization or settlement of Mars is the theoretical migration of humans to Mars and the establishment of long-term human presence on the planet. The...
launched as part of the Marsprogram, it consisted of a lander, and a coast stage with instruments to study Mars as it flew past. The Mars 6 spacecraft carried...
A Mars rover is a remote-controlled motor vehicle designed to travel on the surface of Mars. Rovers have several advantages over stationary landers: they...
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. The surface of Mars is orange-red because it is covered in iron(III) oxide dust, giving it the nickname "the Red...
on Mars. The farthest humans have been beyond Earth is the Moon, under the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA's) Apollo program which...
Lavochkin, Mars 7 was the second of two 3MP spacecraft launched to Mars in 1973, having been preceded by Mars 6. Two orbiters, Mars 4 and Mars 5, were launched...
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