4MV

M-71 - 3MS version

M-73 - 3MP version

Astron

The 4MV planetary probe (short for 4th generation Mars-Venus) is a designation for a common design used by Soviet unmanned probes to Mars and Venus. It was an incremental improvement of earlier 3MV probes and was used for Mars 4 to 7 missions to Mars as well as Veneras 9 to 16. The same base design was used for some earth orbiting space observatories.^[1]

Design^[2]

The spacecraft bus had a height of 2.8 meters and a solar panel span of 6.7 meters. The central section of the bus had a diameter of about 1 meter and contained propellant. The main engine (KRD-425A) was encircled by a conical instrument compartment with the diameter of 2.35 meters at the base.

Variants

• Mars M-69: M-69 s/n 521, M-69 s/n 522
• Mars M-71|3MS:Cosmos 419 (M-71|3MS s/n 170), Mars 2 (M-71 s/n 171), Mars 3 (M-71 s/n 172)
• Prognoz: Prognoz 1 to 9, Intercosmos 23
• Mars M-73|3MS|3MP: Mars 4 (M-73|3MS s/n 52S), Mars 5 (M-73|3MS s/n 53S), Mars 6 (M-73|3MP s/n 50P), Mars 7 (M-73|3MP s/n 51P)
• Venera 4V-1: Venera 9 (4V-1 s/n 660), Venera 10 (4V-1 s/n 661), Venera 11 (4V-1 s/n 360), Venera 12 (4V-1 s/n 361), Venera 13 (4V-1 s/n 760), Venera 14 (4V-1 s/n 761)
• Astron: Astron
• Venera 4V-2: Venera 15 (4V-2 s/n 860), Venera 16 (4V-2 s/n 861)
• Granat: Granat

References