spacetoday.net: Mars images show evidence for Soviet-era lander

Mars images show evidence for Soviet-era lander

Posted: Fri, Apr 12, 2013, 10:35 AM ET (1435 GMT)
Mars 3 parachute image from MRO (NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona )

Space enthusiasts coming through images from a NASA orbiter have found evidence of what they believe is a 1970s Soviet spacecraft that lost contact immediately after landing on Mars. An online community of Russian space enthusiasts, examining images taken by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, believe they have found the landing site of the Mars 3 mission, including the spacecraft's parachute, heat shield, and lander itself. The spacecraft landed on Mars in December 1971, but contact with the spacecraft was lost about 15 seconds after landing and never recovered, for reasons never determined.