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Ad Astra, December 1990

"Failed Soviet Mars Rovers"

     Soviet space engineers have revealed more than 20 years after the fact
that two mini rovers were onboard the Soviet Mars 2 and Mars 3 spacecraft
that reached the Red Planet in 1971.  The rovers never had a chance to strut
their stuff, however, as Mars 2 crashed into the planet and the Mars 3
lander appears to have been blown over by an intense dust storm just 20
seconds after touchdown.

     According to Alexander Kermurjian, chief designer of the Soviet Union's
Industrial Transport Institute, the rovers were to scoot across the Martian
surface attached to their main landers by a 15-meter tether.  The devices
carried tiny sensors to measure surface strength and density on Mars' soil.

     The robotic revelations were discussed by Kermurjian in a recent issue
of The Planetary Report, a publication of The Planetary Society.

     The spacecraft designer is now busily working on mobility systems for
future roving devices the Soviet Union hopes to dispatch to Mars in future
years.
      ___    _____     ___
     /_ /|  /____/ \  /_ /|
     | | | |  __ \ /| | | |      Ron Baalke         | baalke@mars.jpl.nasa.gov
  ___| | | | |__) |/  | | |___   Jet Propulsion Lab | baalke@jems.jpl.nasa.gov
 /___| | | |  ___/    | |/__ /|  M/S 301-355        |
 |_____|/  |_|/       |_____|/   Pasadena, CA 91109 |