Viking 1: The Historic First Mars Landing in Pictures

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Bring Mars to Life

NASA

Martian Sunset

NASA

About a month after landing on the Red Planet, on August 20, 1976, the Viking 1 Lander captured this intriguing sunset over Chryse Planitia using its Scanning Camera 2.

Dreaming of the Future

Lockheed Martin

Charles Bennett, an employee at Martin Marietta (now Lockheed Martin) created this acrylic watercolor scene of a Viking lander on the surface of Mars.

Doing the Work

NASA

Part of the Viking mission objective was to learn about the composition of the Red Planet's atmosphere and its surface. The Viking 1 Lander used its sampling arm to dig deep trenches and collect samples. Some of these experiments were performed on soil from the "Sandy Flats" of the Chryse Planitia.

Christine Lunsford
Christine Lunsford
Producer and Contributing Writer

Christine Lunsford joined the Space.com team in 2010 as a freelance producer and later became a contributing writer, covering astrophotography images, astronomy photos and amazing space galleries and more. During her more than 10 years with Space.com, oversaw the site's monthly skywatching updates and produced overnight features and stories on the latest space discoveries. She enjoys learning about subjects of all kinds.