Cosmos 419

Cosmos 419, also known as 3MS n°170 was a failed Soviet spacecraft intended to visit Mars. The spacecraft was launched on 10 May 1971, however due to an upper stage malfunction it failed to depart low Earth orbit. In 1971, Mars was at its closest to Earth since 1956 and in May of that year both the Soviet Union and the United States made new attempts to reach the Red Planet. Kosmos 419 was intended to overtake the United States probes, Mariner 8 and Mariner 9, in the aim of becoming the first Mars orbiter. As it was, Mariner 8 was lost in a launch failure two days before Kosmos 419 was launched, and Mariner 9 went on to become the first spacecraft to orbit Mars.