Exploration of Mars failed upon impact. Mars 4 flew by the planet at a range of 2200 km returning one swath of pictures and radio occultation data, which constituted the first detection of the nightside ionosphere on Mars. Mars 7 probe separated prematurely from the carrying vehicle due to a problem in the operation of one of the onboard systems (attitude control or retro-rockets) and missed the planet by . In 1964, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory made two attempts at reaching Mars. Mariner 3 and Mariner 4 were identical spacecraft designed to carry out the first flybys of Mars. Mariner 3 was launched
Music in space Nick Mason, who made an audio recording of the event for potential use in a future project. This was claimed by Gilmour to have been the first rock music recording in space. The tape was left on Mir when the mission crew returned to Earth. In 2003 the British space organization's "Beagle 2" probe was scheduled to play a song from the UK music band Blur, upon touchdown on the planet Mars. It was not known what happened to "Beagle 2" for 11 years after landing, and it was considered lost. When it was found intact in 2015, however, the