Right this moment within the historical past of astronomy, Viking 2 touches down.
The Viking 2 lander shot this picture of its touchdown website on Mars, additionally capturing a part of its spacecraft physique within the body. Credit score: NASA/JPL-Caltech
- Viking 2, a Mars lander almost equivalent to Viking 1, efficiently landed on Mars roughly one month after Viking 1’s touchdown.
- Each Viking landers shared a standard mission encompassing world mapping of Mars, climate statement, floor investigation, temperature measurement, and the seek for life.
- Viking 2’s touchdown website, Utopia Planitia, was chosen for its proximity to the Martian polar ice cap, growing the likelihood of discovering life (although this search yielded inconclusive outcomes).
- The Viking 1 and a couple of missions considerably exceeded their deliberate 90-day operational lifespan, collectively transmitting 52,663 pictures and gathering intensive information on Martian terrain, elevation, and temperature.
Solely somewhat over a month after Viking 1 landed on Mars, Viking 2 adopted swimsuit. Although the two Viking landers touched down in numerous areas, they used equivalent spacecraft and had the identical mission: to create world maps of Mars, observe climate patterns, examine the floor, measure temperatures, and seek for life. Viking 2 landed in Utopia Planitia, a big impression basin about 4,000 miles (6,460 kilometers) away from its sister lander. The location was chosen within the hopes that its nearness to the polar ice cap would higher its possibilities for locating life. Although that search was inconclusive, intensive information on floor terrain, elevations, and temperatures rolled in as Vikings 1 and a couple of far exceeded their 90-day lifetimes. Mixed, they returned 52,663 pictures. Viking 2 operated till April 11, 1980; Viking 1 for 2 years and precisely seven months past that.
