Template:Infobox spacecraftMars 2M No.522,[1] also known as Mars M-69 No.522 and sometimes identified by NASA as Mars 1969B, was a Soviet spacecraft which was lost in a launch failure in 1969.[2] It consisted of an orbiter and a lander. The spacecraft was intended to image the surface of Mars using three cameras, with images being encoded for transmission back to Earth as television signals. It also carried a radiometer, a series of spectrometers, and an instrument to detect water vapour in the atmosphere of Mars. It was one of two Mars 2M spacecraft, along with Mars 2M No.521, which were launched in 1969 as part of the Mars program. Neither launch was successful.[3]
Mars 2M No.522 was launched at 10:33:00 UTC on 2 April 1969 atop a Proton-K 8K78K carrier rocket with a Blok D upper stage, flying from Site 81/24 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome.[1][4] Two hundredths of a second after launch, one of the Proton's first stage engines caught fire and exploded.[5] The rocket continued to fly on its remaining engines for about twenty five seconds, before it pitched over and began to fly horizontally. Around forty one seconds after launch, it came down about 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) from the launch pad.[2] The wind spread toxic propellant back across the launch complex, which made it unusable until rain washed the propellant away. By the time this had happened, the alignment of Earth and Mars necessary to launch spacecraft had ended, and the Soviet Union was unable to launch any further Mars probes until 1971. It also resulted in delays to a number of Luna spacecraft scheduled for launch in 1969.[3]
References
^ abMcDowell, Jonathan. "Launch Log". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
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