Mars 3

Mars 3 was a Soviet robotic spacecraft, launched in 1971 as part of the Mars program, that combined an orbiter with a descent lander. Its lander achieved the first successful soft landing on the surface of Mars on December 2, 1971, but transmitted data for only a brief period before contact was lost, possibly due to a severe dust storm raging on the planet at the time. The orbiter portion of the spacecraft continued to function for several months, returning images and other data about the Martian atmosphere and surface.