[FPSPACE] Zond 2 - did it have a lander for Mars?

[Geert Sassen]

If the camerasystem on Zond 2 was identical to the Zond 3 system (which
seems likely as Zond 3 was originally also destined for Mars) then images
should indeed most likely have been much higher resolution then Mariner 4.
Maybe the slower approach speed would have resulted in better (and more)
pictures?
The jasa article clearly states that they could have launched Zond 2 on a
faster trajectory with even less initial impuls required, which destroys my
theory that they might not have had an other choice given the launch so late
in the launch window, but maybe there were still other constraints. It
remains weird. Various sources are very clear that a 'venera-type' lander
attempt was never tried on Mars as the thin atmosphere(even as known in
those days) would never have allowed such a parachute decent.

As you are most probably aware, Phil Stooke recently discovered on UMSF that
the Mars 3 landingsite is actually depicted on Mariner 4 image no. 13, and
the Mars 2 landingsite was imagined by Mariner 7 (see
http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.php?showtopic=572&view=findpost&p=135478)
so the Soviets actually used Mariner 4 and Mariner 6/7 images to plan the
Mars 2/3 landings, something which would not have been necessary if Zond 2
had succeeded.

Regards,

Geert.

On Sat, Feb 7, 2009 at 6:48 PM, Paolo Ulivi <paolo.ulivi at tiscali.it> wrote:

> If Zond 2 was actually to test the trajectory for a lander, the
> trajectory would make sense, because, as described in Andrew Lepage's
> article
> (ftp://ftp.seds.org/pub/info/newsletters/ejasa/1991/jasa9104.txt) it
> would minimize the speed at approach.
> What is strange to me is that the planned flyby distance was so close to
> the planet, 1500 km against almost 10,000 for Mariner 4. I have always
> suspected that the plan was to obtain higher resolution images for some
> late stealing of the show from Mariner, but this is just my opinion
>
>
> Geert Sassen wrote:
> > Thanks a lot Paolo for these additional details, I will add them to my
> > archive, the most info I have on Zond 2 is from your own book so I
> > don't have anything to add to it!
> >
> > Still, without wishing to cast any doubt on all sources, it remains
> > weird why this particular trajectory was selected for Zond 2, causing
> > it to arrive at Mars almost a month after Mariner 4. It has been
> > stated that Zond 3 was originally also destined for Mars, but missed
> > its launch window. Can it be that both probes were in fact so far
> > delayed that given launchmass and other constraints this slow
> > trajectory was the only remaining option?
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Geert.
> > --
> > Geert Sassen
> > weblog: http://geertsassen.web-log.nl
> >
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-- 
Geert Sassen
weblog: http://geertsassen.web-log.nl
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