Mars Program
The Mars 4 spacecraft. (Credit: Soviet Space Program)
The Mars program was a series of Soviet scientific probes sent to explore Mars. The probes included fly-bys, landers, and orbiters.
Lifetime: October 1960 (first attempted launch, Mars 1M) - March 1974 (last probe in series missed Mars and enters heliocentric orbit)
Country (primary): Soviet Union
Primary Science
The Mars Program probes were intended to explore Mars. These studies included photography of the surface during fly-bys, gathering data on cosmic radiation and micormeteoriods near Mars, can the atmospheric structure of Mars.
High Energy Science
Mars 4 and Mars 5 each carried gamma-ray spectrometers. These were primarily intended to study the spectral composition of gamma rays from Mars. However, they were also used for a series of measurements of the cosmic gamma-ray background while the spacecraft were in-flight to Mars.
Science Highlights
- Determined an average cosmic gamma-radiation background flux density.
Links to more information
Mars 4
Lifetime: July 1973 - February 1974
Mars 5
Lifetime: July 1973 - February 1974