Mars 2: The Mars Curse

This space probe was part of the unmanned space program under the Soviet Union. It had a lander onboard that attempted to make a soft landing and conduct experiments and collect martian soil to determine material properties. Though due to the failure in the lander the rover never deployed as far as we know.

Mars 2 / M-71 No. 171

The launch occured on May 19th 1971 on a Proton-K heavy rocket. It was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. After a sucessful launch and separation of stages the probe was on its way to the red planet.

By the time the probe reached Mars, it orbited around Mars collecting information on the topography, composition and physical properties of the surface. During this time a large dust storm on the red planet affected the mission negatively.

Mars 2 orbiter

Planetary scientists studying the data coming from the orbiter stated "a planet-wide robe of dust, the largest storm ever observed." The surface was totally obscured. Unable to reprogram the mission computers, both Mars 2 and Mars 3 dispatched their landers immediately, and the orbiters used up a significant portion of their available data resources in snapping images of the featureless dust clouds below, rather than the surface mapping intended. The orbiter remains in martian orbit.

Decent into the red planet occurred on November 27th 1971. Upon entering the atmosphere at around 6 km/s, the decent computer on the module malfunctioned. Maybe due to the angle of entry was too steep. Though it is not known for sure. The descent sequence did not go as planned and the parachutes did not engage. The exact crash site is unknown, but it is estimated to be at 45°S 313°W. Attempts to contact the probe after the crash were unsuccessful and the mission was a partial failure.

Suspected location of Mars 2

More landers on Mars including Mars 2.

Maybe in future missions the crash sites of these old probes can be visited and to see what is left. As we only get a small idea of what happened when these crashes occur without seeing the aftermath.

Prop-M Rover on board lander
Source: Wikipedia

https://cyberneticzoo.com/wp-content/uploads/PROP-M_Museum-x640(1).jpg

Prop-M Rover being tested
Source: Cyberneticzoo.com

Skipping forward a few years and more Mars mission attempts as they were just general mechanical failures that could be easily explained. The Mars 2 mission had some uncertainty to it. With the decent of the probe, and then being unable to reach it once it should have landed leaves this craft the category of mystery. The red planet claims another probe. Though in history this was the first time a probe had impacted mars.

Ever since the first attempts to get a probe on or even near the planet has ended in disaster over and over again. From the 1960s through the 1980s there 20 out of the 30 total missions to Mars failed and its one of its moons Phobos during those decades.

Even into the 1990s issues were still occurring on space craft with the destination of Mars.

Charts can be found on Wikipedia under "List to missions to Mars"

Above is a chart starting in 1960 through 2016 showing failures, partial success, success, and scheduled.

Addresses below to help me buy better camera equipment and support me to travel to locations to do photo and video and overall great blogs in new places. I would be happy to list some of the contributors in my posts for donations that help me along the way.

Coin	Address
BTC:	bc1qhfmvd2gywg4fvrgy2kkkkyqta0g86whkt7j8r7
LTC:	ltc1qdyzm5cwgt8e2373prx67yye6y9ewk0l8jf3ys9
DASH:	XkSqR5DxQL3wy4kNbjqDbgbMYNih3a7ZcM
ETH:	0x045f409dAe14338669730078201888636B047DC3
DOGE:	DSoekC21AKSZHAcV9vqR8yYefrh8XcX92Z
ZEN:	znW9mh62WDSCeBXxnVLCETMx59Ho446HJgq