Mars 3 spacecraft. Mars 3 was a Soviet unmanned space probe to Mars launched on 28th May 1971. It was composed of an orbiter (with attached solar panels) and a lander (on top). The Mars 3 lander made the first ever soft landing on Mars on 2nd December 1971 using aerodynamic braking, parachutes and retrorockets. 90 seconds after landing, and after 20 seconds of picture transmission, the lander stopped working for unknown reasons. This is a back-up spacecraft exhibited at the The Konstantin E. Tsiolkovsky State Museum of the History of Cosmonautics, Kaluga, Russia.