Mars 1

After leaving Earth orbit, the spacecraft and the Molniya booster's fourth stage separated and the solar panels were deployed. Early telemetry indicated that there was a leak in one of the gas valves in the orientation system so the spacecraft was transferred to gyroscopic stabilization. It made sixty-one radio transmissions, initially at two-day intervals and later at five days, containing a large amount of interplanetary data.

On March 21, 1963, when the spacecraft was at a distance of 106,760,000 km (66,340,000 mi) from Earth on its way to Mars, communications ceased, probably due to failure of the spacecraft's antenna orientation system. Mars 1's closest approach to Mars probably occurred on June 19, 1963 at a distance of approximately 193,000 km (120,000 mi), after which the spacecraft entered an orbit around the Sun.

Spacecraft design

Mars 1 was a modified Venera-type spacecraft in the shape of a cylinder 3.3 m (11 ft) long and 1 m (3.3 ft) in diameter. The spacecraft measured 4 m (13 ft) across with the solar panels and radiators deployed. The cylinder was divided into two compartments. The upper 2.7 m (8.9 ft), the orbital module, contained guidance and on-board propulsion systems. The experiment module, containing the scientific instrumentation, comprised the bottom 0.6 m (2.0 ft) of the cylinder. A 1.7 m (5.6 ft) parabolic high gain antenna was used for communication, along with an omnidirectional antenna and a semi-directional antenna. Power was supplied by two solar panel wings with a total area of 2.6 m² (28 sq ft) affixed to opposite sides of the spacecraft. Power was stored in a 42 ampere-hour cadmium-nickel battery.

Mars 1 was equipped with three primary radio systems operating at wavelengths of 1.6 meters, 32 centimeters, and in the centimeter range (5 and 8 centimeters). The 32-centimeter wavelength transmitter, situated in the orbital module, utilized a high-gain antenna, primarily transmitting on 922.76 MHz. It was supplemented by the 1.6-meter wavelength transmitter, linked with omnidirectional antennae on the solar panels, which operated on 183.6 MHz for downlink and likely near 102 MHz for uplink, serving both for telemetry and as a backup communication system in case of orientation system failure.

For detailed observations, the 8-centimeter wavelength transmitter in the experiment module was dedicated to transmitting television images, utilizing a signal coherent with the main 922.76 MHz link but at a higher frequency of 3691.04 MHz. Additionally, an impulse transmitter operating in the 5-centimeter band (around 5840-5890 MHz range) was also housed in the experiment module. This system, characterized by impulse modulation, was designed to transmit image data at approximately 90 pixels/sec using pulse-position modulation, with an average power consumption of 50 watts and peak power of 25 kilowatts per pulse.

The Mars 1 station was initially programmed for automatic data transmission every two days, later adjusted to every five days post December 13. Ground commands could also trigger transmissions from the station as required.

Temperature control was achieved using a binary gas–liquid system and hemispherical radiators mounted on the ends of the solar panels. The craft carried various scientific instruments including a magnetometer probe, television photographic equipment, a spectroreflexometer, radiation sensors (gas-discharge and scintillation counters), a spectrograph to study ozone absorption bands, and a micrometeoroid instrument.