Mars 3 was the first spacecraft to make a controlled landing on Mars.
The Soviet Mars 3 lander reached the Martian surface on 2 December 1971 after entering the atmosphere and using a parachute, retrorockets, and landing engines. It achieved the first soft landing on Mars, unlike earlier probes that either failed during descent or impacted the surface.
Mars 3 began transmitting after landing, but communication stopped after about 20 seconds. The cause has never been established with certainty. Possible explanations include a powerful electrical discharge associated with Martian dust, a hardware failure, or another landing-related problem.
Its companion orbiter continued operating and returned data. Mars 2, the paired mission, reached Mars earlier but its lander crashed, so Mars 2 is not the answer for the first controlled landing. Later Viking landers achieved long-lived surface operations.