events

Viking program: The American Viking 2 spacecraft lands at Utopia Planitia on Mars.

Historical image related to Viking program: The American Viking 2 spacecraft lands at Utopia Planitia on Mars. from September 3, 1976

Viking program

Pair of NASA landers and orbiters sent to Mars in 1976

The Viking program consisted of a pair of identical American space probes, Viking 1 and Viking 2 both launched in 1975, and landed on Mars in 1976. The mission effort began in 1968 and was managed by the NASA Langley Research Center. Each spacecraft was composed of two main…
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)

Viking 2

Space orbiter and lander sent to Mars

The Viking 2 mission was part of the American Viking program to Mars, and consisted of an orbiter and a lander essentially identical to that of the Viking 1 mission. Viking 2 was operational on Mars for 1281 sols. The Viking 2 lander operated on the surface for 1,316 days, or…
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)

Utopia Planitia

Impact basin on Mars

Utopia Planitia is a large plain within Utopia, the largest recognized impact basin on Mars and in the Solar System with an estimated diameter of 3,300 km (2,100 mi). It is the Martian region where the Viking 2 lander touched down and began exploring on September 3, 1976, and…
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)

Mars

Fourth planet from the Sun

Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmospheric pressure is a few thousandths of Earth's,…
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)