Tuesday, October 27, 2026

1969-04-02 · 57 years ago

2M No. 522 — launch

Date in UTC

Mars 2M No.522, also known as Mars M-69 No.522 and sometimes identified by NASA as Mars 1969B, was a Soviet spacecraft which was lost in a launch failure in 1969. It consisted of an orbiter. The spacecraft was intended to image the surface of Mars using three cameras, with images being encoded for transmission back to Earth as television signals. It also carried a radiometer, a series of spectrometers, and an instrument to detect water vapour in the atmosphere of Mars. It was one of two Mars 2M spacecraft, along with Mars 2M No.521, which was launched in 1969 as part of the Mars program.

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_1969B. Original timeline Wikipedia link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_program. Related NASA reference: https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/chronology.html#1969. Description adapted from Wikipedia contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).

Category
Launches and Flight Tests
Mission
2M No. 522
Organization
Strategic Rocket Forces
Vehicle
Proton-K/D
Location
NIIP-5, Baykonur, Kazakstan
Country
SU
Launch outcome
failure

Context and qualifications

Launch code: OF. Source references: NK9810-25; KIAM. S1 failure

Sources and attribution

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