Viking 1
Robotic spacecraft sent to Mars / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Viking 1 was the first of two spacecraft, along with Viking 2, each consisting of an orbiter and a lander, sent to Mars as part of NASA's Viking program.[2] The lander touched down on Mars on July 20, 1976, the first successful Mars lander in history. Viking 1 operated on Mars for 2,307 days (over 61⁄4 years)[2] or 2245 Martian solar days, the longest Mars surface mission[2] until the record was broken by the Opportunity rover on May 19, 2010.[6]
This article is about the mission to Mars. For other uses, see Viking One.
Quick Facts Mission type, Operator ...
Mission type | Orbiter and lander |
---|---|
Operator | NASA |
COSPAR ID | Orbiter: 1975-075A Lander: 1975-075C |
SATCAT no. | Orbiter: 8108 Lander: 9024 |
Website | Viking Project Information |
Mission duration | Orbiter: 1,846 days (1797 sols) Lander: 2,306 days (2,245 sols) Launch to last contact: 2,642 days |
Spacecraft properties | |
Manufacturer | Orbiter: NASA JPL Lander: Martin Marietta |
Launch mass | 3,530 kg[lower-alpha 1] |
Dry mass | Orbiter: 883 kg (1,947 lb) Lander: 572 kg (1,261 lb) |
Power | Orbiter: 620 W Lander: 70 W |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | 21:22, August 20, 1975 (UTC) (1975-08-20T21:22Z)[2][3] |
Rocket | Titan IIIE/Centaur |
Launch site | LC-41, Cape Canaveral |
End of mission | |
Last contact | November 11, 1982 (1982-11-11)[4] |
Orbital parameters | |
Reference system | Areocentric |
Mars orbiter | |
Spacecraft component | Viking 1 Orbiter |
Orbital insertion | June 19, 1976[2][5] |
Orbital parameters | |
Periareion altitude | 320 km (200 mi) |
Apoareion altitude | 56,000 km (35,000 mi) |
Inclination | 39.3° |
Mars lander | |
Spacecraft component | Viking 1 Lander |
Landing date | July 20, 1976[2] 11:53:06 UTC (MSD 36455 18:40 AMT) |
Landing site | 22.27°N 312.05°E / 22.27; 312.05 (Viking 1 lander)[2] |
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