Sputnik 24 (also known as Beta Xi 1, Korabl 13, and Mars 1962B) was an attempted Mars lander mission. The SL-6/A-2-e launcher put the spacecraft and the attached booster upper stage into a 197 × 590 km Earth orbit with an inclination of 64.7 degrees. The total mass of the booster/spacecraft complex (the Tyazheliy Sputnik) was roughly 6500 kg, the Mars spacecraft component comprising about 890 kg of this. The complex broke up during the burn to transfer to Mars trajectory. Five large pieces were tracked by the U.S. Ballistic Missile Early Warning System. The geocentric orbit of the presumed booster decayed on 25 December 1962 and the Mars spacecraft orbit decayed and it re-entered Earth's atmosphere on January 19, 1963.
This spacecraft was originally designated Sputnik 31 in the U.S. Naval Space Command Satellite Situation Summary.
The Mars program was a series of Mars unmanned landers and orbiters launched by the Soviet Union in the early 1970s.
The Mars 2 and Mars 3 missions consisted of identical spacecraft, each with an orbiter and an attached lander; they were the first human artifacts to touch down on Mars.
Mars 2 lander had a small 4.5 kg Mars 'rover' on board, which would move across the surface on skis while connected to the lander with a 15-meter umbilical.
Sputnik 24 (also known as Beta Xi 1, Korabl 13, and Mars1962B) was an attempted Mars lander mission.
The total mass of the booster/spacecraft complex (the Tyazheliy Sputnik) was roughly 6500 kg, the Mars spacecraft component comprising about 890 kg of this.
The geocentric orbit of the presumed booster decayed on 25 December 1962 and the Mars spacecraft orbit decayed and it re-entered Earth's atmosphere on January 19, 1963.
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