Jul 20 2001
From The Space Library
NASA commemorated the 25th anniversary of Viking 1 Lander’s safe descent to the surface of Mars. The successful mission, marking the first time that humankind had sent a spacecraft to the Red Planet and the first landing of an American probe on another planet, inaugurated a series of research-oriented missions to Mars. In celebrating this banner day in its history, NASA looked forward to new challenges and opportunities for the study of Mars. NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin delivered a keynote address, “Continuing the Quest~ Celebrating Viking and Looking to the Future of Mars Exploration,” at the National Geographic Society’s Grosvenor Auditorium in Washington, DC. Viking 1 Lander had remained on Mars for six years, gathering images and data invaluable for scientists. Following up on the success of the first probe, Viking 2 Lander had arrived on Mars’s Plain of Utopia in September 1976. The two probes had taken more than 4,500 pictures while slowly crawling over Mars’s surface. Perhaps as significant as the finds of Viking 1 and 2 on Mars was the fact that the probes did not find any evidence of life on the Red Planet. NASA’s Langley Research Center (LaRC) had equipped both probes with biological sensors, setting a precedent for future probes to other planets to continue the search for signs of life outside of Earth. As NASA celebrated the pathbreaking Viking missions, the 2001 Mars Odyssey traveled toward the Red Planet to continue the tradition of exploring Mars’s hostile but fascinating landscape. (NASA, “NASA Celebrates 25th Anniversary of Mars Landing,” news release 01-143, 17 July 2001.)
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