Cosmos 419
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Cosmos 419 was launched by the Soviet Union on May 10, 1971. Mars was at its closest to Earth since 1956, and in May that year both the Soviet Union and the United States made new attempts to reach the Red Planet. Cosmos' payload however failed to separate from the fourth stage of the launch vehicle, and Cosmos 419 reentered Earth's atmosphere two days after launch.
The probe may have been intended to overtake Mariner 8, the United States probe which was launched two days earlier with the aim of becoming the first Mars orbiter. Cosmos 419 may have been part of the Soviet Union's Mars probe program, of which there were 6 missions in the early 1970s, including Mars 2 and 3 in May 1971, only days after Cosmos 419. Cosmos 419 is thought to have been a combined lander and orbiter, but may have been a simple orbiter, like Mariner 8. [1] The Soviet Union had previously attempted to reach the Red Planet in the early 1960s, with the Marsnik program.
The SL-12/D-1-e Proton booster successfully put the spacecraft into low (174 km x 159 km) Earth parking orbit with an inclination of 51.4 degrees. However, the Block D stage 4 then failed due to a bad ignition timer setting: the timer, intended to start ignition 1.5 hours after orbit was reached, had been erroneously set for 1.5 years. The orbit subsequently decayed and the spacecraft re-entered Earth's atmosphere 2 days later on 12 May 1971. The mission was designated Cosmos 419.
"Beginning in 1962, the name Cosmos was given to Soviet spacecraft which remained in Earth orbit, regardless of whether that was their intended final destination. The designation of this mission as an intended planetary probe is based on evidence from Soviet and non-Soviet sources and historical documents. Typically Soviet planetary missions were initially put into an Earth parking orbit as a launch platform with a rocket engine and attached probe. The probes were then launched toward their targets with an engine burn with a duration of roughly 4 minutes. If the engine misfired or the burn was not completed, the probes would be left in Earth orbit and given a Cosmos designation."[2]
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| edit Failed & Cancelled missions to the Planet Mars | |
|---|---|
| Failed: | Marsnik program | Sputnik 22 | Mars 1 | Sputnik 24 | Mariner 3 | Zond 2 | Mars 1969A | Mars 1969B | Mariner 8 | Cosmos 419 | Mars 6 | Mars 7 | Phobos 1 | Mars Observer | Mars 96 | Nozomi | Mars Climate Orbiter | Mars Polar Lander | Deep Space 2 | Beagle 2 |
| Cancelled: | Voyager | Mars Surveyor 2001 Lander | NetLander | Mars Telecommunications Orbiter |
