Feb 13 1977
From The Space Library
NASA announced it had commanded the Viking 1 lander on Mars to dig a ft-deep trench in the surface and bring up soil samples to use in finding out more about the complex chemistry of the planet. The sequence, which would continue through March 15, would include pictures taken by the lander to show mission controllers how the digging progressed. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory had sent commands to the Viking 1 lander Feb. 10 and would start the Viking 2 lander's digging sequence about Feb. 16. Viking 1's orbiter would make a series of close passes near Mars's satellite Phobos to take pictures and measure its temperature, while observing the effect of its gravity on the course of the spacecraft. Afterward, mission controllers would drop the orbiter to about 300km altitude over Mars from the current close-approach altitude of 1500km. (NASA Release 77-24; JPL Release Feb 10/77)
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