In 1971, the Soviet Union may have achieved one of the greatest milestones in space exploration.
They landed on Mars.
The Mars 3 spacecraft successfully descended through the Martian atmosphere and touched down on the surface, becoming the first mission in history to complete a soft landing on another planet.
Then, for a brief moment, it worked.
A signal came back to Earth. Data began to transmit. A camera started sending an image of the Martian surface, line by line.
Then the signal cut off.
What followed was silence.
Scientists never determined exactly what went wrong. Some believe a massive Martian dust storm overwhelmed the system. Others suspect a failure in the lander itself. Whatever the cause, the mission ended just seconds after making history.
