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

References

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