Mars 96 (sometimes called Mars-8) was a failed Mars mission launched in 1996 to investigate Mars by the Russian Space Forces and not directly related to the Soviet Mars probe program of the same name. After failure of the second fourth-stage burn, the probe assembly re-entered the Earth's atmosphere, breaking up over a 320 km (200 mi) long portion of the Pacific Ocean, Chile, and Bolivia. The Mars 96 spacecraft was based on the Phobos probes launched to Mars in 1988. They were of a new design at the time and both ultimately failed. For the Mars 96 mission the designers believed they had corrected the flaws of the Phobos probes, but the value of their improvements was never demonstrated due to the destruction of the probe during the launch phase.
History Mars 96, the only Soviet/Russian lunar or planetary probe in the 1990s, was an ambitious mission to investigate the evolution of the Martian atmosphere, its surface, and its interior. Originally planned as two spacecraft, Mars 94 and Mars 96, the missions were delayed and became Mars 96 and Mars 98. Subsequently Mars 98 was cancelled leaving Mars 96 as the first Russian deep space mission beyond Earth orbit since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The entire spacecraft comprised an orbiter, two small autonomous stations, and two independent penetrators. It was, however, a very ambitious mission and the heaviest interplanetary probe launched up to that time. The mission included a large complement of instruments provided by France, Germany, other European countries and the United States. Similar instruments have since been flown on Mars Express, launched in 2003. Its project scientist was Alexander Zakharov.
Scientific goals Mars 96 was intended to improve our understanding of Mars. The scientific goal of the mission was to study the evolutionary history of the planet's surface, atmosphere, and inner structure. Other studies during cruise, such as astrophysical studies were to be made. They can be divided into several categories:
Martian surface Studies of the Martian surface were to include a global topographical survey, mineralogical mapping, soil composition, and studies of the cryolithozone and its deep structure.
Atmosphere Studies of the atmosphere were to include the climate, abundance of certain elements, ions, and chemicals such as water, carbon dioxide, ozone, and others, general global monitoring, pressure variations over time, and characterization of aerosols.
Inner structure Studies of planet structure were to find the thickness of the crust, study the Martian magnetic field, study of thermal flux, search for the possibility of active volcanoes, and study seismic activity.
Plasma studies Plasma studies were to study the strength and orientation of the magnetic field, study of ions and energy composition of plasma during interplanetary cruise and near Mars, and the study of the magnetosphere and its boundaries.
Astrophysical studies Astrophysical studies were to take place during interplanetary cruise. They included studies of cosmic gamma-bursts and the study of oscillations of the Sun and other stars.
Design
Orbiter The Mars 96 orbiter was a 3-axis Sun/star stabilized spacecraft which was based on the design of the Phobos orbiters. It had a deployable high and medium gain antennae. Two large solar panels were attached to either side of the spacecraft. It also had a jettisonable propulsion unit to be separated sometime after Mars orbit insertion. Two Surface Stations were attached on top of the spacecraft. Two Penetrators were attached to the propulsion unit. It also had a MORION system which was the central interface, microprocessor, and memory system. The orbiter had a total mass, with fuel, of 6180 kg. It had a dry mass of 3159 kg.
Surface station
Each Surface Station was contained in an aeroshell about 1 meter high and about 1 meter in diameter. Each station had a Station Data Processing Unit (SDPI) for controlling station operations, telecommunications unit with a transmitter and a receiver for data transfer, and a power supply consisting of two radio-isotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs), a battery, and electronics for controlling battery charge. Each Surface Station also carried a compact disc which contained science fiction stories, sound, and art that have inspired Mars exploration. It was intended as a gift for future human explorers. The expected lifetime of each Surface Station was one year.
Penetrator Each penetrator consisted of two major structures: the forebody and the afterbody. When the penetrator struck the surface the forebody was designed to separate and delve 5 to 6 meters into the surface while the afterbody remained on the surface connected to the forebody by wires. The forebody contained the housekeeping equipment and part of the analysing package while the afterbody contained the rest of the analysing package and the radio equipment. Each penetrator was powered by a Radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) and a battery. The expected lifetime of each penetrator was one year.
Instruments
Orbiter
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