Zond 2

USSR-era Russian space satellite

Zond 2
The Soviet Zond 2.
NamesZond 3MV-4 No. 2
Mission typeMars flyby
OperatorOKB-1
COSPAR ID1964-078C Edit this at Wikidata
SATCAT no.00945
Spacecraft properties
Bus3MV-4
Launch mass890 kg (1,960 lb)
Start of mission
Launch dateNovember 30, 1964, 13:12 UTC
RocketMolniya T103-16
Launch siteBaikonur LC-1/5
Orbital parameters
Reference systemHeliocentric
Eccentricity0.216
Perihelion altitude0.98 AU
Aphelion altitude1.52 AU
Inclination6.4°
Period508 days
Velocity5.62 km/s
Flyby of Mars
Closest approachAugust 6, 1965
Distance1,500 km (930 mi)
Zond
← Zond 1
Zond 3 →
 

Zond 2 was a Soviet space probe, a member of the Zond program, and was the sixth Soviet spacecraft to attempt a flyby of Mars.[1][2] (See Exploration of Mars)[3] It was launched on November 30, 1964 at 13:12 UTC onboard Molniya 8K78 launch vehicle from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, USSR. The spacecraft was intended to survey Mars but lost communication before arrival.

History

Zond-2 carried a phototelevision camera of the same type later used to photograph the Moon on Zond 3. The camera system also included two ultraviolet spectrometers. As on Mars 1, an infrared spectrometer was installed to search for signs of methane on Mars.

Zond 2 also carried six Pulsed Plasma Thrusters (PPT) that served as actuators of the attitude control system. They were the first PPTs successfully used on a spacecraft. The PPT propulsion system was tested for 70 minutes on the 14 December 1964 when the spacecraft was 4.2 million kilometers from Earth.[4]

Zond 2, a Mars 3MV-4A craft, was launched on November 30, 1964. During some maneuvering in early May 1965, communications were lost. Running on half power due to the loss of one of its solar panels, the spacecraft flew by Mars on August 6, 1965 at 5.62 kilometres per second (3.49 mi/s), 1,500 kilometres (930 mi) away from the planet.

Scientific Instruments[5]

  1. Radiation Detector
  2. Charged Particle Detector
  3. Magnetometer
  4. Piezoelectric Detector
  5. Radio Telescope
  6. Nuclear Component of Cosmic-ray Experiment
  7. Ultraviolet and Roentgen Solar Radiation Experiment
  8. Imaging System

See also

  • Spaceflight portal

References

  1. ^ "Chronology of Mars Missions". ResearchGate. doi:10.13140/rg.2.2.29797.65768. Archived from the original on December 10, 2018.
  2. ^ "Zond 2 Mars Flyby ~ Fornax Space Missions". Archived from the original on December 26, 2018. Retrieved December 26, 2018.
  3. ^ Zond-2: An early attempt to touch Mars
  4. ^ Shchepetilov, V. A. (December 2018). "Development of Electrojet Engines at the Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy". Physics of Atomic Nuclei. 81 (7): 988–999. Retrieved February 28, 2024.
  5. ^ "In Depth | Zond 2". Solar System Exploration: NASA Science. Archived from the original on March 27, 2020. Retrieved December 26, 2018.

External links

  • NASA (NSSDC) information on Zond 2
  • "The Mystery of Zond 2" by Andrew Lepage, EJASA April, 1991
Preceded by
Zond 1
Zond program (interplanetary) Succeeded by
Zond 3
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