Lockheed MartinTitan IIIESpace Launch Complex 41, Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
Titan IIIE | Viking 1
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No countdown — this launch time is not yet known to the minute.August 20, 1975Add to calendar
Lockheed Martin's 3rd launch · 1st this year · humanity's 1,730th orbital launch attempt
The launch vehicle successfully inserted its payload(s) into the target orbit(s).
Window: Aug 20, 21:22 – Aug 20, 21:22 UTC
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Viking 1
Viking 1 was the first of two spacecraft (along with Viking 2) sent to Mars as part of NASA's Viking program. On July 20, 1976, it became the first spacecraft to land successfully on Mars and perform its mission. Viking 1 held the record for the longest Mars surface mission of 2307 days or 2245 sols until that record was broken by Opportunity on May 19, 2010.
Planetary Science · Heliocentric N/A (Helio-N/A)
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From Hampton to Mars: How NASA Langley Helped Land on the Red Planet
Fifty years ago, NASA’s Viking 1 and 2 landers made the first successful landings on Mars, opening a new era in planetary exploration. Behind that achievement was a team at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, whose steady leadership and technical expertise helped turn an ambitious idea into a mission that reshaped how we […]
Our First View of the Surface of Mars
“Touchdown, we have touchdown!” At 5:12 a.m. PDT, July 20, 1976, mission controllers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory erupted in cheers as they learned that the Viking 1 lander had survived its descent through the thin Martian atmosphere. Forty minutes later, the lander’s first image began to appear on their monitors, slowly forming line by […]
