• Oct. 10, 1960 - Marsnik 1 (USSR) launched, on an intended Mars flyby The spacecraft did not reach Earth orbit
• Oct. 14, 1960 - Marsnik 2 (USSR) launched, on an intended Mars flyby The spacecraft did not reach Earth orbit
• Oct. 24, 1962 - Sputnik 22 (USSR) launched, on an intended Mars flyby The spacecraft achieved Earth orbit only
• Nov. 1, 1962 - Mars 1 (USSR) launched, on an intended Mars flyby

The spacecraft's radio failed at 65.9 million miles (106 million kilometers) 

• Nov. 4, 1962 - Sputnik 24 (USSR) launched, on an intended Mars flyby The spacecraft achieved Earth orbit only
• Nov. 5, 1964 - Mariner 3 (U.S.) launched, on an intended Mars flyby

The shroud encasing the spacecraft at the top of the rocket failed to jettison

Mars Exploration Attempts in the 1960’s

While this was happening