The Soviet space program launched Mars 2 from Baikonur Cosmodrome, carrying an orbiter and a lander intended to reach Mars ahead of NASA's Viking missions. Though the orbiter succeeded, the lander crashed, becoming the first human-made object to reach the Martian surface — albeit in pieces.
Mars 2 was launched atop a Proton-K rocket as part of the Soviet Union's ambitious M-71 program, racing to notch a string of Martian firsts before the Americans could. Its twin, Mars 3, followed just days later, and together they represented the Soviet Union's most serious attempt yet to plant its technology on another planet.
When the Mars 2 lander separated and descended toward the surface, its guidance system failed to slow its descent properly, and it slammed into the planet at high speed — a violent, unintended 'first' as the first human object to touch Mars, just not in the way anyone hoped. The orbiter fared better, circling the planet for years and returning valuable data on Martian atmosphere and surface features, a partial redemption for a mission that had aimed much higher.