Viking 1: the story
Viking 1 · Chapter 1 of 9
20 August 1975
Launch
Viking 1 left Earth on a Titan IIIE-Centaur from Launch Complex 41.
Viking 1 · Chapter 2 of 9
20 July 1976
Arrival
Parachute and retro-rockets at Chryse Planitia.
Viking 1 · Chapter 3 of 9
1975
Sealed for the trip
At Kennedy Space Center, technicians prepared Viking Lander 1's aeroshell cover.
Viking 1 · Chapter 4 of 9
20 August 1975
Liftoff
A Titan III-Centaur launched Viking 1 from Launch Complex 41.
Viking 1 · Chapter 5 of 9
20 July 1976
First picture
Minutes after landing it took the first photograph ever made on the surface of Mars.
Viking 1 · Chapter 6 of 9
1976
In colour
The first colour image from the lander showed the rocky orange plain of Chryse Planitia.
Viking 1 · Chapter 7 of 9
28 July 1976
Looking for life
Its robot arm scooped the first soil samples into the biology laboratory. The results were inconclusive.
Viking 1 · Chapter 8 of 9
2006
Seen from orbit
The lander, renamed the Thomas Mutch Memorial Station in 1982, was imaged from orbit by HiRISE.
Viking 1 · Chapter 9 of 9
11 November 1982
Last signal
After more than six years on Mars, a faulty command sent from Earth cut the link. Viking 1 was never heard from again.
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