Happy 30th Anniversary, Viking!
The first Earthlings landed on Mars thirty years ago.

In the summer of 1976, two intrepid spacecraft reached Mars after nearly a year of galactic traveling. Named Viking 1 and 2, they were the first spacecraft to land on another planet.

The spacecraft were designed to collect information from Mars to send back to Earth. One of the main goals was to search for evidence of life on the Red Planet.

“I recognized it was going to be a tremendous challenge,” said Viking manager John Newcomb, in a NASA interview. “It was a scientific challenge. I mean the science on board was the likes of which we just hadn’t done before.”

Mars

Mars composite of 102 images taken from Viking 1 Orbiter. At the center is Valles Marineris, a system of canyons, Credit: NASA

~Julie Leibach

Lander Model
Model of the Viking lander, Credit: NASA

Both spacecraft consisted of an orbiter and a lander. They were built to function for 90 days, but they continued collecting data until the mission ended in 1982.

NASA spent about one billion dollars on the Viking mission. The mission provided a wealth of detailed information on Mars that had been lacking. It also paved the way for future Martian exploration.

NASA celebrates the Viking mission on Thursday, July 20, at a conference held at the Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. The LRC managed the Viking mission.