Mars probe intended to photograph Mars on a flyby trajectory. The Mars probe had a mass of about 640 kg and carried a magnetometer, cosmic ray counter, plasma-ion trap, and micrometeorite detector.

Mass: 640 kg (1,410 lb). Associated Launch Vehicle: Molniya 8K78.

• 1959 December 10 - Further development of Soviet Lunar and Planetary probes approved. -

  Central Committee of the Communist Party and Council of Soviet Ministers Decree 1386-618 'On the Creation of AMS for Landing on the Moon. and Flights to Venus and Mars-- approving automated lunar and interplanetary spacecraft' was issued.

• 1960 October 10 - Mars probe 1M s/n 1 failure. - Program: Mars. Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Vehicle: Molniya 8K78. FAILURE: At T+300.9 sec, the launcher went out of control and the destruct command was given at T+324.2 sec - the engine of Stage 3 cut off after 13.32 s of burning. Mass: 640 kg (1,410 lb).

  This was the Soviet Union's first attempt at a planetary probe. Mars probe intended to photograph Mars on a flyby trajectory. The possible cause lay in resonance vibrations of upper stages during Stage 2 burning, which led to break of contact in the command potentiometer of the gyrohorizon. As a result a pitch control malfunctioned and the launcher began to veer off the desired ascent profile. On exceeding 7 degrees of veering in pitch, the control system failed. The upper stage with the payload reached an altitude of 120 km before burning up on re-entry into the atmosphere above East Siberia.

• 1960 October 14 - Mars probe 1M s/n 2 failure. - Program: Mars. Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Vehicle: Molniya 8K78. FAILURE: At T+290 sec Stage 3's engine 8D715K failed to ignite because a LOX leak froze kerosene in the fuel inlet to the pump on the launch pad due to a faulty LOX valve seal.

  Mars probe intended to photograph Mars on a flyby trajectory. This was the Soviet Union's second attempt at a planetary probe. The upper stages and payload broke up on re-entry into the atmosphere.

• Novosti Kosmonavtiki, "Na Mars!", 1996, Issue 20, page 53.

• Siddiqi, Asif A, The Soviet Space Race With Apollo, University Press of Florida, 2003. ISBN: 0813026288. The definitive history of the Soviet manned space program in the 1960's to the early 1970's. Originally published as the the latter part of 'Challenge to Apollo' by NASA in 2000 as NASA SP-2000-4408. More at amazon.com...

• Krebs, Gunter, Gunter's Space Page, University of Frankfurt, 1996. Accessed at: http://www.skyrocket.de/space.

• Novosti Kosmonavtiki, "Otmenenniy Start "Molniya-M"", 1997, Issue 1, page 29.

• Varfolomyev, Timothy, Spaceflight, "Soviet Rocketry that Conquered Space - Part 5", 1998, Volume 40, page 85. 1: Sp 95/37-260; Sp 96/38-31 (8K71 launches); 2: Sp 96/38-48; 3: Sp 96/38-206; Sp 96/38-317 (designatons); 4: Sp 98/40-28; 5:Sp 98/40-85

• National Space Science Center Planetary Page, As of 19 February 1999.. Accessed at: http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/planetary_home.html.