Photos: 50 Years Since Viking 1 Landed on Mars
This retrospective piece commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Viking 1 mission, the first successful Mars landing. It features archival imagery and technical details regarding the development and execution of the historic NASA program.
Why it matters
The Viking program laid the foundational groundwork for modern planetary exploration and our current understanding of the Martian surface.
On July 20, 1976, Viking 1—the first successful Mars lander in history—touched down on the red planet. NASA’s Viking Program sent two pairs of orbiters and landers to Mars, gathering an incredible amount of data and imagery from 1976 until 1982.
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