The complex and regrettable Mars 96 mission is the first deep space exploration project in Russia after the disintegration of the Soviet Union.

Russia's deep space program after the disintegration of the Soviet Union.

The former Soviet Union originally planned to carry out the Mars surface research project after two Phobos exploration programs, and planned to launch it in 1992. Later, it was postponed to 1994 due to financial problems. The plan calls for launching two orbiters in 1994, each carrying a Mars balloon, and sending a small lander to the surface of Mars. Then in the second window of 1996, it is planned to launch two other orbiters to Mars and deploy a Mars surface patrol. Finally, the Mars sampling return mission was launched at 1998.

Later, after the plan was revised, the plan was adjusted to 1994 to launch an orbiter with a small lander and an armor-piercing projectile, and 1996 to launch a second orbiter with a Mars balloon and a patrol. According to the plan, they are called Mars -94 (марс-94) and Mars -96 (марс-96) respectively.

Effect diagram of Mars -96 probe performing MTI insertion ignition

1991.12.25, the Soviet Union disintegrated. With the economic crisis and lack of funds, the plan of 1994 was postponed to 1996, and the plan of 1998 was postponed to1998 (so the original марс-94 became мм.

This is Russia's first deep space exploration project: Mars -96 (No.M 1 520).

1.2 from Phobos exploration project to Mars 96.

Then, IKI debated whether to copy the two Phobos missions of 1992 or design a new mission.

While carrying out two Phobos exploration plans, a follow-up plan was made and named "Columbus". The Mars probe is planned to be launched in 1992 and 1994 respectively. But by 1989, the Soviet government did not have enough funds to support the project, so the plan was postponed. Instead, launch at 1994-as described in 1. 1. The first R&D fund for the 1994 mission was put in place in April of 1990, and France and Germany agreed to provide R&D support equivalent to $65,438+200 million.

In the two missions of Vega multi-target detector launched by 1984, two Venus balloon detectors jointly developed by the former Soviet Union and France were carried. These two balloon probes were very successful, and the former Soviet Union planned to deploy them on the Mars probe.

Similarly, a new type of patrol will also be used for this task. The design quality of the patrol reaches 200kg, equipped with RTG power supply, the top speed can reach 500m/h, the design life is 1- 1.5 Mars year, and the design roaming distance is 500km.

According to the plan, the patrol is equipped with the following scientific research equipment:

? Four panorama camera can take panoramic images of Mars.

? Four-stage mass spectrometer for atmospheric analysis

? Laser suspended particle spectrometer

? Visible-infrared spectrometer for surface analysis

? Several Magnets Used to Reveal Soil Magnetism

? The radio detector used to detect the stratum structure has a maximum detection depth of150m.

? Weather detector

? Samples were collected by mechanical arm, and trace gases were determined by soil observation camera, two spectrometers (one of which was used to analyze iron-containing minerals in soil) and gas analyzer.

The original planned Mars -94 included a balloon and a patrol.

However, due to financial problems, these two exciting explorations were postponed to the original plan of 1996, which reduced the task complexity of 1994. At that time, it was planned to carry only a scaled-down lander similar to Mapc-3 and a new type of armor-piercing projectile provided by Vornadsky Institute.

However, due to the economic recession after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the Russian Space Agency (RSA) did not get enough R&D funds, so RSA was worried that the planned launch of 1994 was not smooth enough, and postponed the launch to 1996, while the planned launch of 1998 was postponed. RSA gave the highest priority and gave full support-if it weren't for its international obligations and the intervention of western funds, the plan might have been cancelled.

However, due to the economic downturn, the Russian government is still unable to provide all the promised funds. RSA allocated some funds from low-priority tasks, and western partners provided another $6,543.8+$800 million. By the beginning of 1996, RSA had owed 80 million rubles to complete the final integration and testing of Mars -96.

Finally, after all the difficulties, the proton K-Blok D-2 rocket loaded with Mars -96 probe and Fragatpad was pushed to the launch pad. 1launched at 20: 48: 53 local time in Baikonur on October 6.

2. Mission objectives of1Mars -96.

Mars -96 probe consists of six parts: the main body of Mars -96 orbiter, two micro Mars landers, two penetrators and Fregat ·ADU. It is planned to conduct a comprehensive study on the present situation and past evolution of Mars, including the physical and chemical processes in the atmosphere, surface and interior.

2.2 Mission sequence and maneuver/landing plan of Mars -96.

Mars -96 adopts a launch mission sequence similar to that of two Phobos: the proton K-Blok D-2 rocket sends the Mars -96 probe into a large elliptical orbit. After Blok D is separated, Fregat ·ADU ignites the probe and sends it into a ground fire transfer orbit. The optimal launch time is1996.11.16.

After a cruise of 10 months,1September, 997, Fregat ADU performed MOI (Mars Orbital Injection) and then gave up Adu.

Four to five days before MOI, the two micro-landers will be separated from the main body and turn to spin stability at 12rpm. Subsequently, the ADU performs a bias maneuver to straighten the ignition point. The Russians chose three landing zones for the two landers: Acadia 4 1.3 1 N, Acadia 153.77 W, Amazon 32.48 N, 163.32. The alternate landing point is located at 3.65 degrees north latitude and 193 degrees west longitude.

After MOI, the Mars -96 orbiter will enter the orbit around Mars with an inclination of106.4, and gradually decrease to a periodic orbit of 7: 4, with a period of 43.09 hours. Perigee is 300 kilometers.

These two kinds of armor-piercing projectiles will be deployed within 7-28 days after reaching the scheduled orbit, and the designed landing sites are Acadia and Utopia Plain. They will enter the spin stability of 75 rpm, and then re-enter after separation with a deceleration rocket. After the two armor-piercing projectiles were separated, the ADU was abandoned, and the orbiter used a small engine to maintain the orbit. One penetrator will be deployed near the lander, and the other will be deployed at least 90 degrees away, providing a good baseline for seismometers.

The design life of the orbiter is 1 Mars year. Track correction of 1-2m/s shall be conducted once a month.

2.3 Layout of Mars -96 probe.

The layout of Mars -96 probe is similar to that of two Phobos, with orbiter at the top and Fregat ·ADU at the bottom. Two landers are located above the orbiter, and two penetrators are arranged on the Fregat ADU.

Three views of Mars -96 probe

The detector is 3.5m high and 2.7m wide, and the width of the solar array after deployment is11.5m..

Emission mass: 6824 kg

Dry mass of track device: 26 14kg.

Armor piercing projectile: 88 kg 2

Lander: 120.5kg 2

Connecting mechanism: 283kg

ADU dry weight: 490kg

Fuel: 2832kg

Hydrazine for attitude control:188kg

3. Scientific instruments and tasks of1Mars -96 orbiter.

Mars -96 orbiter is based on Phobos orbiter and still uses pressurized platform. Computers and most aerospace electronic equipment, thermal regulation equipment, communication equipment, batteries and electronic equipment for scientific research are fixed on the annular booster platform. Above the pressurization platform is a flat deck with solar panels, and two landers enter the system and instruments. Solar cells are also equipped with low gain antennas and attitude control systems.

A pair of scanning platforms (a three-axis TPS and a two-axis PAIS) are installed on the annular pressurizing platform, which can accurately adjust the direction of the camera and spectrometer. One side of the structure is equipped with a high gain antenna, and the other side is equipped with a medium gain antenna. The high gain antenna can't control the pointing direction, and the design code rate of communication with the ground is 130kbps. Thermal control, navigation and star sensors are also installed on the annular booster platform.

Because of the lessons of Phobos, the west expressed distrust of its computers, and Europe provided new and more powerful navigation computers.

Mars -96 orbiter has 12 instruments to study the atmosphere and surface of Mars, 7 instruments to study the composition of plasma, field, particles and ionosphere, and 5 instruments to study the sun and astrophysics. They are located on two scanning platforms (TPS and PAIS) and solar panels. ARGOS package and navigation camera are located on TPS, while SPICAM, EVRIS and PHOTON.

Located in Pais.

Instruments for studying the atmosphere and surface of Mars;

? Argos HRSC Multifunctional Stereo High Resolution TV Camera (Germany [West Germany]-Russia)

? ARGOS WAOSS Wide Angle Stereo TV Camera (Germany [East Germany]-Russia)

? ARGOS OMEGA Visible and Infrared Drawing Spectrometer (Germany-Russia)

? FPS Planetary Infrared Fourier Spectrometer (Italy-Russia-Poland-France-Germany-Spain)

? TERMOSKAN mapping radiometer (Russia)

? SYET High Resolution Drawing Spectrophotometer (Russia-USA)

? SPICAM Multichannel Optical Spectrometer (Belgium-France-Russia)

? UVS-M ultraviolet spectrophotometer (Russia-Germany-France)

? LWR Long Wave Radar (Russia, Germany, America and Austria)

? Photon gamma-ray spectrometer (Russia)

? Neutron -S neutron spectrometer (Russia)

? MAK four-stage mass spectrometer (Russia-Finland)

HRSC is provided by West Germany and Voss is provided by East Germany. Later, they were integrated into a unified project. Each instrument in the ARGOS package is a push-broom scanner, using a 5 184 pixel CCD parallel linear array. The narrow-angle camera has 9 arrays, which are used for multi-spectrum, photometric measurement and stereo imaging, and the resolution is 12m. The wide-angle camera has three arrays for stereo imaging, and the resolution is1000 mm.

TPS platform has an airborne processing unit named MORION-S, weighing 25.3kg, including a solid-state storage system weighing 2 1kg, which is manufactured in cooperation with ESA. The capacity is 1.5GB, which is used to reduce transmission requirements. At the same time, there is an omega weighing 23.7kg on TPS, which is used to measure the atmospheric composition and draw the surface composition.

TERMOSKAN weighs 28kg and is used to measure the thermal properties of the weathered layer.

12kg SVET is used to analyze the spectra of surface and suspended particles.

20kg photons are used to draw the elemental composition of the surface.

8 kg of neutron-s is used to determine the abundance of ice and water.

35 kg LWR is used to detect near-surface layer and measure vertical structure and ice deposition. It can also measure the distribution of electrons in the ionosphere and the interaction between ionosphere and solar wind.

25.6kg FPS is used to map carbon dioxide distribution and measure atmospheric temperature, wind and suspended particles.

The 46 kg SPICAM uses occultation data of the sun and stars to obtain vertical distribution maps of water vapor, ozone, oxygen and carbon monoxide.

9.5 kg UYS-M is used to map the structure of atomic hydrogen, deuterium, oxygen and helium in the upper atmosphere of Mars and its interstellar medium.

10kg MAK is used to measure the composition and distribution of ions and neutrons in the upper atmosphere.

Instruments for studying the composition of plasma, field, particles and ionosphere;

? ASPERA-C Energy Mass Ion Spectrometer and Neutron Particle Imager (Sweden-Russia-Finland-Poland-USA-Norway-Germany)

? FONEMA Fast Omni-directional Unscan Energy Mass Ion Analyzer (UK-Russia-Czech Republic-France-Ireland)

? DYMIO Omnidirectional Ionospheric Energy Mass Ion Analyzer (France-Russia-Germany-USA)

? MARIPROB Ionospheric Plasma Spectrometer (Austria-Belgium-Bulgaria-Czech Republic-Germany-Hungary-Ireland-Russia-USA)

? MARENF electronic analyzer and magnetometer (Austria-Belgium-France-Germany-UK-Hungary-Ireland-Russia-USA)

? Ellesma Plasma Wave Instrument (France-Bulgaria-Britain-European Space Agency-Poland-Russia-Ukraine)

? SLED-2 Low Energy Charged Particle Spectrometer (Ireland-Czech Republic-Germany-Hungary-Russia-Slovakia)

12.2kg ASPERA is used to measure the energy distribution of ions and fast neutral particles.

10.7kg FONEMA is used to measure the dynamics and structure of plasma in the upper atmosphere.

7.9kg MARIPROB and 7.2kg DYMIO were used to supplement the data for the above instruments.

12.2kg MARENF can analyze plasma electrons, and its two magnetic flux magnetometers can be used to measure the magnetic fields between stars and in the orbit of Mars.

12kg ELISMA is used to measure plasma waves in the Martian environment. It is equipped with three Langmuir detectors and three search coil magnetometers.

3.3kg SLED-2 is used to measure low-energy cosmic rays in interplanetary navigation and Mars environment.

Solar and astrophysical research instruments;

? PGS Precision Gamma Ray Spectrometer (Russia and America)

? LILAS-2 Cosmic and Solar Gamma Ray Burst Spectrometer (Russia-France)

? EYRIS stellar oscillation photometer (France-Russia-Austria)

? SOYA Solar Oscillator Photometer (Ukraine-Russia-France-Switzerland)

? RADIUS-M Radiation Dose Monitor (Russia-Bulgaria-Greece-USA-France-Czech-Slovakia)

25.6kg PGS is used to measure solar flares during interstellar travel, and then measure gamma-ray radiation in the orbit of Mars.

LILAS-2, weighing 5 kg, is used to locate space gamma ray bursts together with several spacecraft in Earth orbit and Ulysses detectors. In addition, it is planned to study the origin of celestial bodies through occultation observation of Mars.

1 kg SOYA and 7.4 kg EVRIS photometers are used to measure solar earthquakes and celestial vibrations respectively.

RADIUS-M is used to obtain the relevant data of manned landing on Mars in the future.

3.2 Scientific instruments and tasks of Mars -96 lander.

On the top of Mars -96, two landers or "micro-stations" were installed, similar to those of M-7 1 and M-73(Mapc-2 and Mapc-3). Just a lot smaller.

Ground test of Mars -96 lander

Lander size:

Diameter: 60cm

Mass: 30.6 kg

Payload: 8 kg

Total mass of air inlet:120.5kg.

There is a "small station" in front, with the DAS small lander of Phobos on the left and the rover on the right.

The lander separated 4-5 days before MOI, and began to enter the Martian atmosphere, with an altitude of 100km, a speed of 5.75kmps and an entry angle of 1 1 -2 1. About 180s after EDL, deploy the parachute at a height of 19-44km and a speed of 200-320 m/s, then abandon the parachute and deploy the lander through 130m wire harness. At a height of about 4- 18 km and a speed of 20-40 m/s, the lander airbag inflates to withstand the landing speed of 20 m/s. When the lander hits the ground, the parachute is cut off and it begins to roll and stop. Then the airbag splits and separates from the seam. Subsequently, the four three-leaf structures of the lander are unfolded, and three of them can spread the instrument to far places through springs.

Each lander is equipped with two RTGs the size of coffee cups, and each RTG can provide 220 MW of electricity. Circulator, uplink bit rate 2kbps, downlink bit rate 8kbps, orbiter provides UHF relay. Spending the night on Mars, the lander is equipped with an 8.5W heater, and its design life is 1 Mars year.

The lander is equipped with scientific instruments;

EDL stage:

? DESCAM descent imager (France-Finland-Russia)

? DPI Triaxial Accelerometer and Sensor for Temperature and Pressure Measurement (Russia)

After landing:

? PANCAM central mast panoramic camera (Russia-France-Finland)

? Central Main Meteorological Instrument System (Finland-France-Russia)

? The best seismograph, magnetometer and inclinometer (France-Germany-Russia)

? APXα particle, proton and X-ray spectrometer (Germany-Russia-USA)

? MOX oxidant sensor (USA-Russia)

Layout of scientific instruments in "small station"

DESCAM is used to take the image of the bottom of the lander and provide the background for panoramic shooting after landing. It has a 400 500-pixel CCD, which was discarded when the airbag was separated.

DPI uses its accelerometer, temperature and pressure sensors to measure the temperature, pressure and density distribution and landing dynamics during EDL.

PAMCAM can provide 6000 1024 pixel 360 60 panorama.

The MIS weather bag is installed above the deployable mast and used to measure the temperature, pressure, humidity, wind force and optical depth of the surface of Mars. ODS optical sensor can measure the direct sunlight and scattered light of zenith in three narrow bands of 270, 350 and 550 nm and in a wide band of 250-750 nm. DPI is used to measure temperature and surface wind speed. APX weighs only 0.85 kg and is used to study oxidants to verify the inference made by Viking lander: Martian soil is rich in oxidants, which is not conducive to life.

3.3 Scientific instruments and tasks of Mars -96 penetrator.

The armor-piercing projectile was developed by Vornadsky Institute. Installed on the ADU side. Used to penetrate the Martian soil for scientific research.

Imagine the armor-piercing projectile carried by Mars -96.

Penetrator size:

The diameter of the precursor is 12cm.

The diameter of the posterior body is 65438 0.7 cm.

The funnel tail is 78cm at most.

2.0 meters long

The total weight is 88 kilograms.

The weight of the armor-piercing projectile is 45 kilograms.

Payload 4.5 kg

Mars -96 armor-piercing projectile

After the armor-piercing projectile is separated from the ADU, the solid rocket will decelerate at a speed of 30m/s and then be abandoned. The armor-piercing projectile rotates stably at the speed of 75 revolutions per minute, and then the first stage of its flexible thermal deceleration system is inflated. EDL was carried out 2 1.5h after separation, with the speed of 4.6-4.9kmps and the entrance angle of 12. Then, the second stage of flexible thermal protection deceleration system is inflated to fully deploy it. Six minutes after EDL is started, the armor-piercing projectile will hit the surface of Mars at a speed of about 75m/s, and the impact force of about 500G will be absorbed by a liquid storage tank. The precursor of the armor-piercing projectile was separated from the afterbody and drilled into the ground for about 6m, and the afterbody was just stuck on the surface of Mars, and they were connected by a coil cable. Subsequently, the aft mast is unfolded and the experimental instrument is unfolded.

Mars -96 deployed penetrator

The bit rate from the armor-piercing projectile to the circulator is 8kbps, passing through a 0.5W RTG, 150W? H lithium battery power supply, design life 1 Mars year.

Scientific instruments carried by the penetrator:

The afterbody on the water;

? TVS TV camera (Russia)

? MEKOM Meteorological Sensor (Russia-Finland-USA)

? IMAP-6 magnetometer (Russia-Bulgaria)

Underground afterbody;

? PEGAS gamma-ray spectrometer for soil analysis (Russia)

? TERMO temperature sensor for measuring heat flow (Russia)

Precursor:

? Camerton Internal Structure Seismograph (Russia-UK)

? GRUNT accelerometer for soil mechanics measurement (UK-Russia)

? TERMO temperature sensor for measuring heat flow (Russia)

? Neutron -P neutron detector for water detection (Russia)

? Alpha proton spectrometer for soil analysis (Russia-Germany)

? ANGSTREM soil analysis X-ray fluorescence spectrometer (Russia)

Layout of scientific instruments for armor-piercing projectiles

GRUNT is used to measure the surface characteristics during impact and penetration.

Camerton is used to search for Mars.

TERMOZOND is used to measure heat flow and provide data of thermal diffusivity and heat capacity.

TVS linear camera has 2048 pixels and can take panoramic images of the scene.

MEKOM is used to monitor temperature and wind speed.

IMAP-6 is used to measure the local magnetic field of Mars.

4. 1 launch.

1996 165438+1October16, the proton K-Blok D-2 was launched at LC-200/39, which was at 20: 48: 53 local time in Baikonur. The first three levels are working normally. According to the plan, the first ignition of Blok D-2 will send the detector to a lower parking orbit, and then the second ignition will enter a large elliptical orbit.

However, the first ignition of Blok D-2 did not take place or only took 20 seconds, so Blok D-2 turned off early and was thrown into the orbit of 80 km and 320 km. Then Blok D-2 is separated automatically, and Fregat ADU ignites to send the detector into the orbit of 87km 1500km. 165438+1October 17, Blok D-2 re-entered between Easter Island and the coast of Chile. 165438+1October 18, the Mars -96 probe turned into a meteor and re-entered the sky over Chile, and was thought to have fallen in the Andes bordering Bolivia.

Through the search, no debris of the spacecraft was found, and no RTG was found. It was installed on a tray that could withstand high heat and impact.

Due to the disintegration of the Soviet Union, Russia fell into an economic crisis, and most ocean-going space survey ships were recalled and sold, resulting in no ship monitoring and control at key fire points. It is even impossible to know whether Blok D-2 failed or the spacecraft issued a wrong shutdown instruction, which is extremely difficult to judge.

5. 1 Reflection on the failure of Mars -96 launch.

Mars -96 is a highly complex and ambitious task, and its failure is a great loss in the history of planetary exploration. There are more engineering systems, observation platforms, scientific instruments and affiliated aircraft than any previous planetary exploration mission, and a large number of measurements are planned. If successful, the data and discoveries it brings will be amazing. In addition, this highly international cooperation, quite complex and expensive exploration mission, once it fails, will not carry out such a planetary exploration mission for many years to come. The failure of Mars -96 has severely damaged Russia's deep space project. It was not until 20 1 1 that another Mars exploration program was launched, that is, Forbes-soil detector.

It took 15 years from Mars -96 to Forbes-Soil, but after 15 years, Forbes-Soil also became another meteor, burning over the Pacific Ocean.