Mars has been a popular target for unmanned spacecraft since the dawn of the space age. Numerous attempts have been made to set human-built probes into orbit around the red planet and land them on its surface to find out more about our ruddy neighbor, particularly if it carried signs of life.
The first attempt to send a probe to the red planet was made by the USSR in 1960 with the "Marsnik" spacecraft. While that first try, and many subsequent ones, were unsuccessful — some missed the planet, some were destroyed during launch, some malfunctioned after launch — at total of six landers or rovers and nine orbiters have been sent to Mars.
More: Space.com (http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/dead-mars-spacecraft-100414.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+spaceheadlines+(SPACE.com+Headline+Feed))
More: Spring (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjiGH9QNiU0)
Somebody posted the 2nd one previously - Mike ?