Sep 22 1973
From The Space Library
One of four U.S.S.R. spacecraft-Mars 4, 5, 6, or 7, launched toward Mars July 22 and 25 and Aug. 5 and 9-would soft-land near the Mars south polar cap to test the physical properties of Martian soil and surface rocks and check the possibilities of transmitting TV pictures of the surrounding terrain to earth, Roald Sagdeyev, Director of the Space Research Institute of the Soviet Academy of Sciences, said in a Tass interview. Mars 4 and 5 were 19 515 000 km (12 126 000 mi) and 18 584 000 km (11 548 000 mi) from the earth and would reach Mars in February 1974. Mars 6 and 7 were 16 664 000 km (10 354 000 mi) and 15 623 000 km (9 708 000 mi) from the earth and would reach Mars in March 1974. Radiation and magnetic measure-ments were being made and cosmic rays were being studied, Sagdeyev said. The stations also would investigate solar noise in the meter wave band as well as register the flux of solar plasma. United Press International reported later that Western space experts had speculated that a landing craft might carry a Marsokhod roving vehicle to explore the Martian surface. um also reported that it was believed that the U.S.S.R. departure from the usual practice of not announcing mission goals was to demonstrate Soviet willingness to cooperate with the U.S. in view of the plans for a 1975 joint U.S.- U.S.S.R. mission. (Tass, FBIS-Sov, 9/24/73, Ul; AP, W Post, 9/24/73, A21)
The U.S.S.R. was beginning a new major program to strengthen its under-ground missile silos against nuclear attack, according to senior U.S. officials quoted by the Washington Post. The unidentified officials thought the U.S.S.R. might be planning to use a new "popup" missile-launching technique as part of this effort. (Getler, W Post, 9/22/73)
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