Viking:Looking Back at 30 Years

Thirty years ago two spacecraft, with orbiters built by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada, began their almost year long trip to Mars. Viking 1 and 2 were launched in 1975 and became the first space probes to obtain high resolution images of the Martian surface; characterize the structure and composition of the atmosphere and surface; and conduct on-the-spot biological tests for life on another planet.

"I was working for Martin Marietta," said Gentry Lee, at the time Viking's landing site certification manager and the science analysis and mission planning director for the mission. Lee is now the Solar System Exploration chief engineer at JPL.

The mission was to be a great bicentennial celebration with President Gerald Ford coming to witness the landing. But things didn't go quite as planned.

"We had planned to land on the Fourth of July," he said

"The first pictures [from the spacecraft] showed it was not safe originally to land on July 4."

For 18 days the Viking team looked at new landing areas, when one was found they planned for the landing. Finally after Viking 1's June 19, 1976 arrival it separated from the orbiter and touched down on July 20 on the Martian surface.

"The [original landing area] was full of boulders," Lee said. "We would look at different sites, it was a selection process."

Viking 1 landed at an area named Chryse Planitia. One of the first photos sent back was of the lander's foot pad on the surface. The Viking team received some criticism of that photo. Many wanted the first view to be more dramatic. But scientists and engineers were not certain of the Mars surface.

"You have to remember many believed it may sink. We thought the surface could have the consistency of Rapid Shave and we would just sink," Lee said.

They wanted to make certain that their landing was on a solid surface.

"Viking was so far ahead of its time. It was the first time that mankind had ever had a soft landing on Mars, we have not had a soft landing again," Lee said. A soft landing is when the spacecraft lands on it's legs in a chosen spot, the recent landings of the Mars Rovers were done via air bags.

The spacecraft would then bounce to a safe area, the air bags would deflate and the rovers rolled out. He added that the technology had to be more advanced for a soft landing as opposed to the air bags that have been used in recent landings.