Launch of Mars 3

Mars 3 was a Soviet spacecraft consisting of an orbiter and a lander, launched toward Mars a few days after its twin Mars 2. In December 1971, the lander separated and made the first soft landing on Mars, but it stopped transmitting after about twenty seconds, possibly because of a severe dust storm that was raging at the time. Only a small part of a picture was received. The orbiter, however, continued to send back data for months, studying the Martian atmosphere, surface temperature, relief and magnetic field. Mars 2 had crashed on arrival, becoming the first human-made object to reach the surface. The Soviet Union's missions lost out in the race to Mars to the American Mariner 9, which reached orbit first.

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