Launch Success
Liftoff Time (GMT)
17:00:00
Thursday November 7, 1996
Watch Replay
24/7 Coverage
Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) was an American robotic spacecraft developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and launched in November 1996. Mars Global Surveyor was a global mapping mission that examined the entire planet, from the ionosphere down through the atmosphere to the surface. It completed its primary mission in January 2001 and was in its third extended mission phase when, on 2 November 2006, the spacecraft failed to respond to messages and commands. A faint signal was detected three days later which indicated that it had gone into safe mode. Attempts to re-contact the spacecraft and resolve the problem failed, and NASA officially ended the mission in January 2007. MGS remains in a stable near-polar circular orbit at about 450 km altitude and, as of 1996, was expected to crash onto the surface of the planet in 2050.
Heliocentric Orbit
1 Payload
1,031 kilograms
Manufacturer
ULARocket
Height: 38.1m
Payload to Orbit
GTO: 1,819 kg
Liftoff Thrust
3,511 Kilonewtons
Fairing
Diameter: 2.9m
Height: 8.49m
Stages
3
Strap-ons
9
53rd
Mission
9th
Mission of 1996
66th
Orbital launch attempt