Sightings1996

Failed Russian Mars 96 probe falls over Chile and Bolivia

When: 17 Nov 1996
Where: Iquique, Chile
Sources: 3 public sources

The Mars 96 orbiter, which fell back to Earth over the Pacific and Chile after a launch failure NASA, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Russia's Mars 96 probe, stranded in Earth orbit after a launch failure, reentered over the Pacific and northern Chile. Witnesses in the Atacama reported a fireball breaking up, and its roughly 200 g of plutonium in power units was thought to have reached the ground.

Sources

OfficialMars 96 timeline (opens in a new tab)NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive
PressHow Safe Are Nuclear-Powered Space Missions? (opens in a new tab)Christian Science Monitor / 1996-12-17
OtherMars 96 (James Oberg posts, including USSPACECOM updates) (opens in a new tab)yarchive.net

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Where it fits

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