Mars 3 Lander

Mars 3

Agency

Soviet Space Programme

Launched

1971-05-28

Landed

1971-12-02

Mass

358 kg

Technical Details

Agency	Soviet Space Programme
Country	🇷🇺 USSR
Landing Site	Ptolemaeus Crater region (~45°S 158°W)
Power System	Batteries (short-lived surface mission)
Mass	358 kg

Key Findings

1.Achieved the first soft landing on Mars on December 2, 1971
2.Transmitted only ~20 seconds of garbled TV images before going silent — likely due to extreme planet-encircling dust storm conditions
3.Deployed the small tethered rover PROP-M but never had the opportunity to operate it on the surface
4.First vehicle to attempt surface mobility on Mars (PROP-M rover tethered to lander)
5.Remains on the Martian surface; location confirmed by MRO HiRISE imagery in 2013

Mission Outcome

Mars 3 achieved humanity's first soft landing on Mars but fell silent after just ~20 seconds, returning only a fragmentary TV image. A planet-wide dust storm almost certainly overwhelmed the solar-powered descent and surface systems. The lander and its untested PROP-M rover remain on the surface, photographed by NASA's MRO spacecraft in 2013.

Sources

[1] NASA NSSDCA — retrieved 2026-06-01

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