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Mars Observer

Mars Observer was a NASA orbiter designed to map the Martian surface, atmosphere, gravity, and magnetic environment with a broad remote-sensing payload. It completed the interplanetary cruise but stopped communicating shortly before its planned Mars-orbit insertion.

Mars Observer
NASA · Stored JPEG is a re-encoded derivative of NASA Science's exact 1000x563 Mars Observer mission-page asset (stored SHA-256 e6dba2f3fe0af6d2114f9112616397612b04a925335a79ee764f7ef743a7b003; authoritative rendition SHA-256 95bc0e0b429555d21844b82be053f10e64b29e8881b2d2d766651cc684673eb9): https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/psd/solar/2023/07/mars_observer.jpg?w=1000&h=563&fit=clip&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint. NASA's current mission page identifies the image as an illustration of NASA's Mars Observer spacecraft and credits NASA: https://science.nasa.gov/mission/mars-observer/. NASA's current Images and Media Usage Guidelines generally permit NASA content for factual, educational, and informational use with NASA acknowledgement and without implying NASA endorsement; separately identified third-party material, NASA logos and identifiers, and some commercial, promotional, merchandise, or endorsement uses remain subject to separate restrictions: https://www.nasa.gov/nasa-brand-center/images-and-media/. This is an asset-level provenance and conservative reuse statement, not a blanket license. · Source
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Identity

Aliases
MO1992-063A
Name
Mars Observer
Status
failed

Details

Astronauts
-
Description
Mars Observer was a NASA orbiter designed to map the Martian surface, atmosphere, gravity, and magnetic environment with a broad remote-sensing payload. It completed the interplanetary cruise but stopped communicating shortly before its planned Mars-orbit insertion.
Destination
Planned 378 x 350 km near-polar Mars orbit for high-resolution imaging and studies of Martian geology, atmosphere, and climate; communication was lost two days before orbit insertion
End Date
1993-08-22
Launch Site
Outcome
The spacecraft reached the vicinity of Mars after an eleven-month cruise, but contact was lost before orbit insertion and could not be restored. The mission returned only limited cruise and approach data rather than its planned global Mars survey.
Programs
Start Date
1992-09-25
Vehicle Families

Links

Official Url
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/mars-observer/

Assets & Meta

Creation Time
July 18, 2026 at 13:28:47 UTC
Updated Time
August 23, 2026 at 01:34:07 UTC
Image
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Other

Affiliations
Search Name
Mars Observer MO 1992-063A
Space Stations
-
Vehicles