The USSR attempted to launch an uncrewed spacecraft to Mars.
The mission, dubbed Kosmos 419, was intended to overtake NASA’s Mariner 8 and 9 probes which were already well on their way to Mars. Mariner 8 failed to launch two days before Kosmos 419′s launch. Kosmos 419 wasn’t successful either, failing to leave Earth’s orbit due to an error in the spacecraft’s code. In the end, Mariner 9 became the first to reach Mars.