A NASA documentary about the planned Mars Observer mission. Spacecraft testing and early 1990's computer animated mission sequences are shown.
The Mars Observer spacecraft, also known as the Mars Geoscience/Climatology Orbiter, was a robotic space probe launched by NASA on September 25, 1992, to study the Martian surface, atmosphere, climate and magnetic field.
Color correction, upscale and cleanup by RetroSpace HD, original footage from NASA/JPL.
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Mars Observer was launched on September 25, 1992 at 17:05:01 UTC by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration from Space Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, aboard a Commercial Titan III CT-4 launch vehicle. The complete burn sequence lasted for 34 minutes after a solid-fuel Transfer Orbit Stage placed the spacecraft into an 11-month, Mars transfer trajectory, at a final speed of 5.28 km/s with respect to Mars.
Mars Observer was scheduled to perform an orbital insertion maneuver on August 24, 1993, but contact with the spacecraft was lost on August 21, 1993. The likely reason for the spacecraft failure was the leakage of fuel and oxidizer vapors through the improperly designed PTFE check valve to the common pressurization system. During interplanetary cruise, the vapor mix had accumulated in feed lines and pressurant lines, resulting in explosion and their rupture after the engine was restarted for routine course correction. A similar problem later crippled the Akatsuki space probe in 2010. Although none of the primary objectives were achieved, the mission provided interplanetary cruise phase data, collected up to the date of last contact. This data would be useful for subsequent missions to Mars. Science instruments originally developed for Mars Observer were placed on four subsequent spacecraft to complete the mission objectives: Mars Global Surveyor launched in 1996, Mars Climate Orbiter launched in 1998, 2001 Mars Odyssey launched in 2001 and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter launched in 2005.
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A special thanks to the channel supporters ( [ Ссылка ] ):
* Bill Hurley
* Darcy Barrett
* Gary Smith
* Gio Pagliari
* Noah Soderquist
* Ryan Hardy
* Scott Manley
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#nasa #marsobserver #mars
