This Day in History: First Man-made Object Reaches Mars

The Soviet space program Mars 2 completes 44 glorious years.

Representational image. (Photo: iStockphoto)

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics or the USSR launched multiple spacecraft missions to investigate Mars from the 1960s to the 1980s.

The Soviets, by and large, were more successful exploring Venus than Mars – the Red Planet’.

On November 27, 1971 the Soviets launched twin Mars 2 and 3 spacecraft to Mars and became the first man-made object to reach the surface of Mars.

(Photo: The Quint)