CAPSULE ON MARS
CN^.P.A.-Reutor—Copyright) MOSCOW, Dec. 21. The Soviet Union has disclosed that the capsule that made tiie first soft landing on Mars this month transmitted television pictures for only 20 seconds. The news agency, Tass, in reports oh the progress of Mars 2 and Mars 3, which are still orbiting the planet, says that it is still too soon to determine why the video transmission to the mother ship ceased so. quickly. Unknown local , peculiarities in the landing area, or the effects of the dust storm raging at the time, are considered likely reasons for the capsule’s short-lived activity. Tass adds that the experiment was complicated by lack of knowledge about conditions on the surface of the planet, which is 292 million miles from earth. The descent module was therefore designed to work in a wide range of atmospheric and landing conditions.
Mars 2 and Mars 3 are continuing to provide information and pictures; in particular, they are doing research into the Martian atmosphere, and determining the physical and mechanical properties of the surface.
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19711223.2.47
Bibliographic details
Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32797, 23 December 1971, Page 6
Word Count
175CAPSULE ON MARS Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32797, 23 December 1971, Page 6
Using This Item
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Press. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 New Zealand licence. This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.
Acknowledgements
This newspaper was digitised in partnership with Christchurch City Libraries.
Log in