July 20, 1976: Viking 1 Lands on Mars
The twin Viking missions collected Mars soil samples and used onboard instruments to test for life, though most scientists later concluded the results were negative.
- On July 20, 1976, NASA's Viking 1 lander touched down on Mars' Chryse Planitia, marking the 50th anniversary of this historic mission today. The probe was the first successful spacecraft to land on the Red Planet.
- Twin spacecraft missions, each consisting of an orbiter and lander, investigated Mars to answer whether life existed on the Red Planet. Dual landers scooped soil samples using specialized equipment designed to detect biological signatures.
- After interpreting initial results, scientists concluded Viking relayed a 'no life on Mars' result. However, astrobiochemist Steven Benner argues the mission's GCMS instrument misinterpreted data, dismissing considerable life-positive findings.
- Benner claims the GCMS misinterpretation was 100% of the grounds for dismissing data, stating, "Viking more likely than not found autotrophic microbial life on Mars, roughly 1,000 cells per gram." This challenges decades of scientific consensus.
- Comparing new findings with archived Viking biology data will be crucial in determining their true meaning. Benner emphasizes that scientists should not be "beholden to a half century of mistakes" when interpreting results.
19 Articles
19 Articles
Viking 1 lands after 11 months and 340 million kilometers, marking the first successful U.S. landing on Mars.
Viking 1 landed on Mars 50 years ago
It has been half a century since NASA landed on Mars with the Viking 1 lander. Viking 1, one of a pair of Viking spacecraft, landed on Mars on July 20, 1976. Launched on August 20, 1975, Viking 1 arrived in orbit around Mars on June 19, 1976. The Viking program is, when adjusted for inflation, one of the most expensive robotic missions ever attempted by NASA. The spacecraft consisted of an orbiter, which was eventually shut down on August 7 as i…
Viking-1's main mission is to search for signs of life on Mars.
Our First View of the Surface of Mars
On the morning of July 20, 1976, roughly 40 minutes after mission controllers received word that the Viking 1 lander had successfully touched down on the surface of Mars, this photo gave us our first view from the surface of another planet.NASA/JPL “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 des…
July 20, 1976: Viking 1 lands on Mars
Viking 1 landed on Mars on July 20, 1976, the first spacecraft to do so and successfully return data. (The Soviet Mars 3 lander had touched down in 1971, but contact was cut off before any data could be received.) The two Viking spacecrafts were designed to be both orbiters and landers; the orbiter’s primaryContinue reading "July 20, 1976: Viking 1 lands on Mars" The post July 20, 1976: Viking 1 lands on Mars appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.
Coverage Details
Bias Distribution
- 67% of the sources are Center
Factuality
To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium
