Mars Polar Lander

The Mars Polar Lander was a robotic spacecraft lander built by Martin Marietta that was launched by NASA on 3 January 1999 to study the soil and climate of Planum Australe, a southern part of Mars. The craft last made contact on 3 December 1999 after the descent phase was supposed to be complete; however, no further communications were made after that and the lander was subsequently declared lost. Subsequent studies were made in an attempt to find the lander to no success and the lander remains