Mars 3

unmanned USSR spaceprobe

Key facts

Mission type: Mars orbiter/lander
Operator: Soviet space program
Cospar id: 1971-049A , 1971-049F
Satcat number span no: 5252, 5667
Mission duration: Orbiter: , 1 year, 2 months and 25 days, Lander: , 1 minute and 50 seconds
Spacecraft type: 4M No.172
Manufacturer: OKB-1
Launch mass: Total: , 4,650 kg (10,250 lb), Orbiter: , 3,440 kg (7,580 lb), Lander: , 1,210 kg (2,670 lb)
Landing mass: 358 kg (789 lb)
Dry mass: 2,265 kg (4,993 lb)
Dimensions: 4.1 × 2.0 × 5.9 m (13.5 × 6.6 × 19.4 ft)
Launch date: 28 May 1971, 15:26:30 ( 1971-05-28UTC15:26:30Z ) UTC
Rocket: Proton-K / D
Launch site: Baikonur 81/23
Contractor: Khrunichev
Disposal: Decommissioned
Declared: August 22, 1972 ( 1972-08-22 )
Last contact: Orbiter: , July 1972 , Lander: , 2 December 1971, 13:53:50 UTC

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Wikidata facts

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Commons category: Mars 3
UTC date of spacecraft launch: 1971-05-28
time of object orbit decay: 1972-08-23
UTC date of spacecraft landing: 1971-12-02
service retirement: 1972-08-22
native label: Марс-3

Sources (2)

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Article

Mars 3 was a robotic space probe of the Soviet Mars program, launched May 28, 1971, nine days after its twin spacecraft Mars 2. The probes were identical robotic spacecraft launched by Proton-K rockets with a Blok D upper stage, each consisting of an orbiter and an attached lander.

After the Mars 2 lander crashed on the Martian surface, the Mars 3 lander became the first spacecraft to attain a soft landing on Mars, on December 2, 1971. However, it failed 110 seconds after landing, having transmitted only a gray image with no details. The Mars 2 orbiter and Mars 3 orbiter continued to circle Mars and transmit images back to Earth for another eight months.