SPACE — On November 1, 1962, the Soviet Union launched the Mars 1 spacecraft on a mission to fly by the Red Planet. Although it eventually flew past Mars, the mission was not completely successful.
After Mars 1 separated from the rocket, it deployed its solar panels and began hurtling toward Mars. When mission controllers checked the telemetry sent to Earth, they discovered Mars 1 had a leak in one of the gas valves that controls the spacecraft’s orientation.
Without a functioning orientation system, Mars 1 would have difficulty pointing its antenna in the right direction. It lost contact with Earth when it was about halfway to Mars. Source: Space.com
2023-11-01 11:45:00
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