Editing Mars 3 (section)

===Entry, descent, landing, transmission, and failure===
[[File:Mars 3 surface transmission.jpg|thumb|The only result received from the camera on Mars 3 lander.]]
Mars 3's descent module was released at 09:14 UT on December 2, 1971, 4 hours 35 minutes before reaching Mars.<ref name=nssdc-2/> The descent module [[Mars atmospheric entry|entered the Martian atmosphere]] at roughly 5.7&nbsp;km/s. Through [[aerodynamic braking]], [[parachute]]s, and [[retrorocket]]s, the lander achieved a soft landing at {{Coord|45|S|202|E|display=inline,title|globe:Mars}}<ref name=NASA-20130411/> and began operations.

The lander began transmitting to the Mars 3 orbiter 90 seconds after landing.<ref name=nssdc-2/> After 20 seconds, transmission stopped for unknown reasons.<ref name=nssdc-2/> It is not known whether the fault originated with the lander or the communications relay on the orbiter. The cause of the failure may have been related to the extremely powerful dust storm taking place at the time which may have induced a [[coronal discharge]], damaging the communications system. The dust storm would also explain the poor image lighting.<ref name=Perminov1/>

A partial image (70 lines) was transmitted. According to V. G. Perminov, the lead designer for Mars and Venus spacecraft at the Lavochkin design bureau during the early days of Mars exploration, the image was "a gray background with no details".<ref name=Perminov1/>