![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() After exceeding its design lifetime (including operating with mechanical issues and after a dangerous fire), Mir was deliberately deorbited in March 2001. A Proton rocket also launched the core module of the Soviet Union's Mir space station in 1986 Mir remained operational for many years. This included Veneras 9 and 10, whose lander components arrived safely on the surface in 1975, and Veneras 13 and 14, whose landers touched down in 1981. In the mid-1970s, the Proton-K/D variant successfully carried several Venus missions into space. More recently, however, the Mars 96 mission failed during a Proton launch in November 1996. The Mars 2 and Mars 3 missions in 1971 (launched on Proton rockets) both arrived safely at the Red Planet and achieved most major objectives. (Image credit: by Karl Tate, Infographics Artist) See how Russia's Proton rocket works in this infographic. These 1970 missions included two landers and a rover that for decades, held a long-distance travel record for off-world exploration.Ī workhorse since 1965, recent versions of the Proton-M have been plagued with failures. Notable examples are the Luna 16 and Luna 17 missions in 1970. Proton-K/D rockets also launched several Luna missions. The Zond 5 mission successfully carried tortoises and other creatures around the moon in September 1968, just months before the first humans orbited the moon during Apollo 8. Proton rockets did, however, successfully launch several missions to the Salyut space station. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, several missions to the moon and Mars, launched on Proton-K/D rockets, ended in launch failures. The first launch took place in July 1965 and since then, the rocket has achieved a more than 90 percent reliability rate. The Proton was originally conceived as an intercontinental ballistic missile that was called the UR-500, but its purpose changed to launching space payloads during development, according to Encyclopedia Britannica. (Image credit: Stephane Corvaja/ESA) Early history The Proton rocket that launched the ExoMars 2016 spacecraft to Mars was raised into a vertical position at the launch pad at Baikonur, Kazakhstan, on March 11, 2016. ![]()
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