Did Vikings really land on Mars?
NASA’s Viking program consisted of two unmanned space missions to Mars: Viking 1 and Viking 2. Each Viking Spacecraft consisted of an orbiter and a lander. The Orbiter designed to image the surface of Mars from orbit and to act as a communication relay for the Viking lander that each mission carried. Viking 1 was launched on 20 August 1975 and Viking 2 was launched on 9 September 1975. Viking 1 Viking 1 was the first of two spacecraft sent to Mars as part of NASA’s Viking program. It was launched by a Titan/Centaur launch vehicle on 20 August 1975 on a 10 month cruise to Mars. The Viking 1 Orbiter was inserted into Mars orbit on 19 June 1976. Landing on Mars was planned for July 4, 1976 on day of the United States Bicentennial, however the imaging of the primary landing site showed it was too rough for a safe landing and the landing was delayed until a safer site was found. The Viking 1 Lander separated from the orbiter on 20 July, 1976 at 08:51 UT and landed at 11:56:06 UT. The primar
