Venera 8 Credit - NASA

Typical orbit: 192 km x 231 km at 65 degrees inclination. Mass: 890 kg (1,960 lb). Associated Launch Vehicle: Molniya 8K78, Molniya 8K78M.

• 1963 November 11 - Cosmos 21 - Program: Mars. Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Vehicle: Molniya 8K78. FAILURE: During unpowered coast in parking orbit the escape stage Block L lost stable attitude. Engine ignition occurred in an incorrect direction. Mass: 890 kg (1,960 lb). Perigee: 192 km (119 mi). Apogee: 231 km (143 mi). Inclination: 64.80 deg. Period: 88.70 min.

  The stage with payload remained in Earth orbit as Cosmos-51 and burnt up on re-entry.

• 1964 February 19 - 3MV-1A - Program: Mars. Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Vehicle: Molniya 8K78M. FAILURE: Second stage failure. Mass: 890 kg (1,960 lb).

• 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

• JPL Mission and Spacecraft Library, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 1997. Accessed at: http://msl.jpl.nasa.gov/home.html.

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

• McDowell, Jonathan, Jonathan's Space Home Page, Harvard University, 1997-present. Jonathan McDowell's complete on-line listing of all objects orbited and over 20,000 rocket launches Accessed at: http://www.planet4589.org/jsr.html.

• USAF Satellite Database, USAF Institute of Technology, 1995. Accessed at: ftp://archive.afit.af.mil/pub/space/.