Mars 5 Orbiter | 3MS No.53S

Mars 5 Sketch

    Mars 3MS No.53S alternatively called Mars 5 Orbiter was a soviet spacecraft intended to explore Mars in early 1973. Mars 5 was intended to enter mars orbit around 1974.This spacecraft was built by Lavochkin. Mars 5 was the second of  two 3MS spacecraft launched to Mars in 1973. Other launches in the same window was Kosmos 419 orbiter, 3MP Mars 6, 3MP Mars 7.It carried an array of instruments to study Mars.Some of the Mars 5 instruments were:

 INSTRUMENTS CARRIED:

• Mars Camera
• Radio Telescope
• IR Radiometer
• Multiple photometer
• Polarimeters
• Magnetometer
• Plasma Traps
• Electrostatic Analyser
• Gamma-ray Spectrometer
• Radio-probe

OPERATION:

   Mars 4 was carried by Proton-K rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome at 18:55:48 UTC on 25th July 1973. First three stages of Proton-K successfully placed Mars-4 in low earth orbit. Fourth Stage (Block-D) placed Mars-4 into heliocentric orbit. On 2 February 1974 the spacecraft was successfully inserted into Martian Orbit.. Several Earlier missions of Russia (Roscosmos) results in failure of missions starting from Mars 1M No.1, 1M No.2, 2MV-4 No.1, 2MV-4 No.2 (Mars 1), 2MV-3 No.1, 2M No.521, 2M No.522, Kosmos 419 (3MS No.170), Mars 2 lander and Prop-M Rover. Only Mars2 and Mars 5 was mostly successful.

 

MISSION OUTCOMES:

• It stopped functioning on 28th February 1974
• It returned 180 photographs, 43 of which were good quality and usable.