'''Sputnik 24''' (also known as ''Beta Xi 1'', ''Korabl 13'', and ''Mars 1962B'') was an attempted [[Mars (planet)|Mars]] lander mission. The SL-6/A-2-e launcher put the spacecraft and the attached booster upper stage into a 197 × 590 km [[Earth orbit]] with an inclination of 64.7 degrees. The total mass of the booster/spacecraft complex (the Tyazheliy Sputnik) was roughly 6500 kg, the Mars spacecraft component comprising about 890 kg of this. The complex broke up during the burn to transfer to Mars trajectory. Five large pieces were tracked by the U.S. Ballistic Missile Early Warning System. The [[geocentric orbit]] of the presumed booster decayed on [[25 December]] [[1962]] and the Mars spacecraft orbit decayed and it re-entered Earth's atmosphere on [[January 19]], [[1963]].

This spacecraft was originally designated ''Sputnik 31'' in the U.S. Naval Space Command Satellite Situation Summary.

==See also==
*[[Exploration of Mars]]
*[[Space exploration]]
*[[Marsnik program]]

[[Category:Mars missions]]
[[Category:Soviet space program]]

[[hu:Szputnyik-24]]
{{Failed Mars Missions}}