Mars 96

Mars 96

Mars 96 probe assembly
Names	Mars-8
Mission type	Mars Orbiter Lander Penetrators
Operator	Roscosmos
COSPAR ID	1996-064A
SATCAT no.	24656
Mission duration	Failed to orbit
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft	Mars 96
Manufacturer	NPO Lavochkin
Launch mass	6,180 kg (13,620 lb)
Dry mass	3,159 kg (6,964 lb)
Start of mission
Launch date	16 November 1996, 20:48:53 UTC
Rocket	Proton-K / D-2
Launch site	Baikonur Cosmodrome, Site 200/39
Contractor	Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center
Entered service	Failed to orbit
End of mission
Decay date	17 November 1996
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric orbit
Regime	Low Earth orbit
Russian Mars programme ← Phobos program Fobos-Grunt →

Mars 96 (sometimes called Mars-8) was a failed Mars mission launched in 1996 to investigate Mars by the Russian Space Forces and not directly related to the Soviet Mars probe program of the same name. After failure of the second fourth-stage burn, the probe assembly re-entered the Earth's atmosphere, breaking up over a 320 km (200 mi) long portion of the Pacific Ocean, Chile, and Bolivia.^[1] The Mars 96 spacecraft was based on the Phobos probes launched to Mars in 1988. They were of a new design at the time and both ultimately failed. For the Mars 96 mission the designers believed they had corrected the flaws of the Phobos probes, but the value of their improvements was never demonstrated due to the destruction of the probe during the launch phase.