Soviet Mars spacecraft possibly spotted in photos

[Hum]

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Space fans from Russia scanning NASA images have spotted what may be a Soviet spacecraft that landed on Mars in 1971 and then mysteriously stopped working.

Photos taken by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter circling the red planet pointed to what may be the Mars 3 lander along with its parachute, heat shield and other hardware that it jettisoned during the descent through the thin Martian atmosphere.

While scientists said the find appeared promising, more follow-up was needed to rule out other possibilities.

Mars 3 operated for only 15 seconds on the Martian surface before it suddenly stopped communicating. It was part of a double mission the Soviet Union launched in 1971. Its twin, Mars 2, crashed.

The Russian space enthusiasts were part of an online group that followed the Curiosity rover, NASA's latest Mars mission. They used crowdsourcing to pore through publicly available archive images and contacted scientists about their find.

Earlier this year, at the group's request, the reconnaissance orbiter passed over the region where Mars 3 was thought to have landed and photographed the site.

While the pictures showed features that appeared consistent with a spacecraft landing, scientists said they could just be rocks or other natural geological formations.

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[Growled Member]

It may be but it might not be. Time will tell.

[neoadorable]

What's the mystery? We know where it landed precisely, no? One day soon people will be there to verify anyway

[Hum]

Or it might be a crashed Martian craft ...

[Growled Member]

One day soon people will be there to verify anyway

Sooner rather than later, I hope.

[neoadorable]

Within ten years for sure Growled, mark my words!

[soumyasch]

How the hell can they identify anything in those photos? All I see is a couple of dots.

[djdanster]

How the hell can they identify anything in those photos? All I see is a couple of dots.

CSI zooming and enhancing. duh!