The Mars 2 and Mars 3 missions consisted of identical spacecraft,
each with a bus/orbiter module and an attached descent/lander module. The primary
scientific objective and experiments of the Mars 3
descent module was to perform a soft landing on Mars, return images from the surface, and
return data on meteorological conditions, atmospheric composition, and mechanical and
chemical properties of the soil. Mars 3 was the first spacecraft to make a successful soft
landing on Mars.
