<Tr> <Th> 2010s </Th> <Td> 5 </Td> </Tr> <P> Starting in 1960, the Soviets launched a series of probes to Mars including the first intended flybys and hard (impact) landing (Mars 1962B). The first successful fly - by of Mars was on 14--15 July 1965, by NASA's Mariner 4 . On November 14, 1971 Mariner 9 became the first space probe to orbit another planet when it entered into orbit around Mars . The amount of data returned by probes increased dramatically as technology improved . </P> <P> The first to contact the surface were two Soviet probes: Mars 2 lander on November 27 and Mars 3 lander on December 2, 1971--Mars 2 failed during descent and Mars 3 about twenty seconds after the first Martian soft landing . Mars 6 failed during descent but did return some corrupted atmospheric data in 1974 . The 1975 NASA launches of the Viking program consisted of two orbiters, each with a lander that successfully soft landed in 1976 . Viking 1 remained operational for six years, Viking 2 for three . The Viking landers relayed the first color panoramas of Mars . </P> <P> The Soviet probes Phobos 1 and 2 were sent to Mars in 1988 to study Mars and its two moons, with a focus on Phobos . Phobos 1 lost contact on the way to Mars . Phobos 2, while successfully photographing Mars and Phobos, failed before it was set to release two landers to the surface of Phobos . </P>

When did the first probe land on mars
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