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Mission record

Mars 1960B

Also known as Korabl 5, Marsnik2, 1M No.2, Marsnik 2

U.S.S.R · Launched

Explore trajectory

Failed · Failure

An intended Soviet Mars flyby mission lost during launch, which NSSDCA describes as either the Soviet Union's first or second attempt at a planetary probe, depending on whether Mars 1960A four days earlier was actually designed to go to Mars. 290 seconds after launch the third stage turbopumps were unable to develop enough pressure to commence ignition; Earth parking orbit was not achieved and the spacecraft fell back to Earth. The cause was believed to be a failed valve on the ground, which allowed kerosene to freeze so that it could not flow into the turbopump.

Destinations
Launch vehicle
Modified SS-6 (Sapwood) with 2nd Generation Upper Stage + Escape Stage
Launch site
Tyuratam (Baikonur Cosmodrome), U.S.S.R
Countries
Soviet Union
Mission types
Flyby

Chronology

Mission timeline

  1. Mission end

    Lost during ascent; Earth orbit not reached

    The 1M no.2 payload launched on October 14, 1960 but did not reach Earth orbit. Third-stage ignition failed at about T+290 s when the fuel path could not supply its turbopump; the stack returned to Earth instead of proceeding to Mars. The exact final impact/breakup clock and coordinate are not established by the inspected sources.

    Earth

  2. Launch

    Launched from Tyuratam and lost during ascent

    NSSDCA's launch/orbital information page gives the launch date and time as 1960-10-14T13:51:03Z. 290 seconds after launch, the third stage turbopumps were unable to develop enough pressure to commence ignition. Earth parking orbit was not achieved, and the spacecraft fell back to Earth. The cause was believed to be a failed valve on the ground, which allowed kerosene to freeze, so it could not flow into the turbopump.

    Earth

Mission architecture

Vehicles

  • Mars 1960B · Spacecraft

    Destinations: Mars

Trajectory record

Trajectory dataset not yet available

Known dates and encounters do not uniquely determine a flight path. This mission’s sourced timeline is available above; no verified trajectory is currently published here.

What is needed to reconstruct this path?
  • A frame-qualified position and vector velocity at an epoch, or equivalent complete orbital elements.
  • Finer event-time constraints where required by an orbital reconstruction; the stored day/month/year precision is retained.
  • The actual failed-flight state history. Intended destinations are not evidence that the spacecraft reached them.

Provenance

Sources

Each source is listed once and labeled with the mission, event, trajectory, or destination/body context it supports.

Data verified through September 14, 2026