The area in which the probe had landed was heavily forested.

The probe landed near the radiation zone and picked up some soil and air samples.

Tracking data just before the landing descent indicated the probes may have landed on the inside edges of a crater, which might be blocking signals.

The first probes from Earth to Mars landed almost that way; the technique is hardly new.

Two identical probes landed on Mars in 1976 within weeks of each other, while their orbiter mother ships mapped the planet and made other measurements.

Several probes have landed in the Oceanus Procellarum area.

A device known as a penetrometer studied the surface as the probe landed and seemed to find wet clay.

Pictures taken after the probe landed show a large flat area covered in pebbles.

Shortly after the probe landed, the unit reported a highly acidic soil and atmosphere.

If that occurred it was expected to be the first time a human-made probe would land in an extraterrestrial ocean.