1975
Viking 1 Launched to Mars
Viking 1, an unmanned U.S.
planetary probe, is launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on a mission to
Mars.
On June 19, 1976, the spacecraft entered into
orbit around Mars and devoted the next month to imaging the Martian surface
with the purpose of finding an appropriate landing site for its lander. On July
20–the seventh anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing–the Viking
1 lander separated from the orbiter and touched down on the Chryse Planitia
region, becoming the first spacecraft to successfully land on the surface of
Mars. The same day, the craft sent back the first close-up photographs of the
rust-colored Martian surface.
In September 1976, Viking 2–launched
only three weeks after Viking 1–entered into orbit around Mars, where it
assisted Viking 1 in imaging the surface and also sent down a lander.
During the dual Viking missions, the two orbiters imaged the entire
surface of Mars at a resolution of 150 to 300 meters, and the two landers sent
back more than 1,400 images of the planet’s surface.