1971-F04
The Mariner Mars 71 program used a new design, with a large Mars orbit insertion motor added to the basic Mariner MM69 bus. Three craft were built, with MM71-3 as a proof test model.
The first launch, payload MM71-1, Mariner 71H (Mariner H) or Mariner VIII, left the pad at 0111 on 1971 May 9 on azimuth 102.0 deg. However, at Centaur ignition the guidance failed and the rocket tumbled. Centaur and spacecraft separated and both fell back into the atmosphere about 1660 km downrange, 550 km N of Puerto Rico.
The original mission plan called for two missions: Mission A (Mariner 8) in an 1800 x 17000 km x 50-80 deg orbit for a mapping mission, and Mission B (Mariner 9) in a <1800 x 41500 km x 50-60 deg orbit, to study time-variable atmospheric and surface features. Following the Mariner 8 failure, a new mission was defined for Mariner 9.
| Mariner 8 | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 May 9 | 0111:02 | Launch by Atlas Centaur AC-24 | |
| BECO | |||
| Atlas MECO | |||
| Atlas sep | |||
| Centaur MES1 | |||
| 0115 | MES1+4s guidance failed | ||
| MES1+28s tumbling | |||
| 0115:32 | Loss of guidance T+4:30 | ||
| 0116 | MES1+86s payload sep | ||
| MES1+88s Centaur MECO, premature | -2500? x 160? x 28? | ||
| 0121:02? | Impact Atlantic, 1660 km range | ||
Payload:
- TV camera
- IR spectrometer
- UV spectrometer
- IR radiometer
