Mars Polar Lander
Delta 7425-9.5
United States Air Force
Mission
Mars Polar Lander
Type: Robotic Exploration
The Mars Polar Lander, also known as the Mars Surveyor ’98 Lander, was a 290-kilogram robotic spacecraft lander launched by NASA on January 3, 1999 to study the soil and climate of Planum Australe, a region near the south pole on Mars. It formed part of the Mars Surveyor ’98 mission. On December 3, 1999, however, after the descent phase was expected to be complete, the lander failed to reestablish communication with Earth. A post-mortem analysis determined the most likely cause of the mishap was premature termination of the engine firing prior to the lander touching the surface, causing it to strike the planet at a high velocity.
Trajectory
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Location
Space Launch Complex 17B
Cape Canaveral, FL, USA
888 rockets have launched from Cape Canaveral, FL, USA.
Rocket
Delta 7425-9.5 – McDonnell Douglas
- Family: Delta
- Length: 39 m
- Diameter: 2.44 m
- Launch Mass: 170 T
The Delta 7425-9.5 was manufactured by McDonnell Douglas with the first launch on 1998-12-11. Delta 7425-9.5 has 3 successful launches and 0 failed launches with a total of 3 launches. Delta II was an expendable launch system, originally designed and built by McDonnell Douglas. Delta II was part of the Delta rocket family and entered service in 1989. Delta II vehicles included the Delta 6000, and the two later Delta 7000 variants (“Light” and “Heavy”). The rocket flew its final mission ICESat-2 on 15 September 2018, earning the launch vehicle a streak of 100 successful missions in a row, with the last failure being GPS IIR-1 in 1997.
Agency
United States Air Force – USAF
- Type: Government
- Abbreviation: USAF
- Country: USA
