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
Space probe Transport Network. First man-made object to soft land on the Moon, or any other extra terrestrial surface. First mission to photograph the far side of the Moon, launched in 1959. First robotic sample return probe from the Moon. First rover on Moon. It was sent to the Moon on November 10, 1970. First probe to Mercury. First successful in-place analysis of another planet. It may have also been the first space probe to impact the surface of another planet, although it is unclear whether it reached Venus' surface. The Venera 7 probe was the first spacecraft to successfully soft land