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Mars 2, Mars 3 and Mariner 9 were all launched into space in May 1971, and all entered Mars’ orbit that same year. NASA's Mariner 9 reached the planet's orbit first on November 14, narrowly beating the Soviet's spacecraft amid the space race , and subsequently became the first spacecraft to orbit another planet.
The satellites of Mars include : Non functional but (probably) orbiting: Viking 1 & 2 orbiter; Mariner 9; Mars Global Surveyor; Mars 2, 3, 5; Phobos 2;
Mars has two known moons, Phobos and Deimos ("fear" and "dread", after attendants of Ares, the Greek god of war, equivalent to the Roman Mars). Searches for more satellites have been unsuccessful, putting the maximum radius of any other satellites at 90 m (100 yd). [4]
Geocentric orbit: An orbit around the planet Earth, such as that of the Moon or of artificial satellites. Selenocentric orbit (named after Selene): An orbit around Earth's Moon. Areocentric orbit (named after Ares): An orbit around the planet Mars, such as that of its moons or artificial satellites.
Entered Mars orbit on 19 June 1976. Titan IIIE Centaur-D1T: Viking 1 lander Lander Successful First successful Mars lander. Deployed from Viking 1 orbiter. Landed on Mars on 20 July 1976. Operated for 2245 sols. 23 Viking 2: Viking 2 orbiter 9 September 1975: NASA United States: Orbiter Successful Operated for 700 orbits. Entered Mars orbit on ...
Mars may have yet-undiscovered moons, smaller than 50 to 100 metres (160 to 330 ft) in diameter, and a dust ring is predicted to exist between Phobos and Deimos. [203] A third possibility for their origin as satellites of Mars is the involvement of a third body or a type of impact disruption.
A planet usually has at least around 10,000 times the mass of any natural satellites that orbit it, ... (two with two satellites each), and 14 Mars-crossers. [2] ...
Extra-close oppositions of Mars happen every 15 to 17 years, when we pass between Mars and the Sun around the time of its perihelion (closest point to the Sun in orbit). The minimum distance between Earth and Mars has been declining over the years, and in 2003 the minimum distance was 55.76 million km, nearer than any such encounter in almost ...