washington — Less than four years after NASA launched its first successful orbiter to Mars, the space agency sent twin orbiter-landers to the red planet – Viking 1 launched Aug. 20, 197… ...

In 1975, NASA's Viking 1 spacecraft entered orbit around Mars, carrying a mission to unlock the secrets of the Red Planet. Soon, it released twin landers that drifted toward the Martian surface ...

Mars as seen by the Viking 1 Orbiter. NASA. 12 / 39. The Viking 1 Lander being tested on Earth. NASA. 13 / 39. Viking 1 being loaded for flight. NASA. 14 / 39. Viking 1 Lander in its aeroshell ...

In Pasadena, California, in the early summer of 1976, the engineers and scientists of NASA's Viking mission hoped to do something no one had ever done before: land a fully operational spacecraft ...

Cydonia, Mars (WHTM) The Viking 1 mission to Mars had already accomplished Amazing Great Things. Launched on August 20, 1975. It arrived in Mars orbit on June 19, 1976. On July 20 the Viking 1 land… ...

Viking 2 was launched on September 9, 1975, less than a month after Viking 1, which landed on Mars on July 20, 1976. The Viking spacecrafts consisted of an orbiter and a lander, which separated after ...

N ASA's Viking missions in the 1970s were groundbreaking, marking the first time humanity sent spacecraft to Mars with the goal of searching for life. Viking 1, launched in 1975, landed on the ...

The original 'Face on Mars' image taken by NASA's Viking 1 orbiter that resembled a human face and sparked controversy next to a later photo demonstrating it was an optical illusion of light and ...

In 1975, NASA's Viking 1 spacecraft entered orbit around Mars, carrying a mission to unlock the secrets of the Red Planet. Soon, it released twin landers that drifted toward the Martian surface and ...

Viking 2's orbiter sprang a leak and was then shut down July 25, 1978, after more than 700 orbits. The lander's batteries died April 11, 1980. (Viking 1's lander worked until Nov. 13, 1982.) ...