Mission Type: Impact
Launch Vehicle: 8K78 (no. T103-17)
Launch Site: Tyuratam (Baikonur Cosmodrome), U.S.S.R., NIIP-5 / launch site 1
Spacecraft Mass: 890.0 kg
Spacecraft Instruments: Unknown
References:
-Deep Space Chronicle: A Chronology of Deep Space and Planetary Probes 1958-2000, Monographs in Aerospace History No. 24, by Asif A. Siddiqi
-National Space Science Data Center, http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/

This was the third and last of the Soviet "second-generation" Mars attempts in 1962 and also the only lander in the series.

During the trans-Mars injection firing of the Blok L stage, the main engine (the S1.5400A1) prematurely shut down after 33 seconds due to a malfunction in the programmed timer for the stage. The problem was later traced to excessive vibrations of the second stage during liftoff. These vibrations evidently also jarred loose a pyrotechnic igniter from its support, preventing the Blok L upper stage from firing.

The spacecraft remained stranded in orbit and re-entered Earth's atmosphere. The spacecraft had been intended to fly by Mars on 21 June 1963.