Mars 2 Lander Mission Profile
The descent module was separated from the orbiter on 27 November 1971 about 4.5 hours before reaching Mars. After entering the atmosphere, the module malfunctioned for unknown reasons and the descent sequence did not operate as planned. The lander impacted the Mars at high velocity near 45 S, 302 W. The cause of the failure may have been related to the extremely powerful martian dust storm taking place at the time.