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| Viking 1 Back Shell | Viking 1 Heat Shield | Viking 1 Lander |
NASA's Viking Lander 1 touched down in western Chryse Planitia on July 20,
1976. The lander, which has a diameter of about 3 meters (10 feet), has
been precisely located in this image from the High Resolution Imaging
Science Experiment camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Also,
likely locations have been found for the heat shield, back shell, and
parachute attached to the back shell. The lander location has been
confirmed by overlaying the lander-derived topographic contours on the
high-resolution camera's image, which provides an excellent match. Viking
Lander 1 was one element of an ambitious mission to study Mars, with a
four-spacecraft flotilla consisting of two orbiters and two landers. Four
cutouts from this image are shown. The first is an overview showing the
relative locations of the lander and candidate back shell and heat shield,
and the others are enlargements of each of these components. Large
boulders, dunes, and other features visible in Lander images can be
located in the image.
A prime motivation for early viewing of these Viking sites is to calibrate
imagery taken from orbit with the data previously acquired by the landers.
In particular, determining what sizes of rocks can be seen from Mars
Reconnaissance Orbiter aids the interpretation of data now being taken to
characterize sites for future landers, such as the Phoenix Mars Lander
mission to be launched in 2007.
Images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment and additional
information about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter are available online
at: http://www.nasa.gov/mro or http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu.
For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, http://www.nasa.gov.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute
of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for
NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space
Systems is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft.
The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera was built by Ball
Aerospace Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona.
