30th Anniversary of Viking Landing on Mars

ewhac writes "30 years ago today, mankind paid our first visit to Mars. Viking 1 made its powered landing on the red planet on 20 July 1976 at 05:12 after an 11-month flight. Images and data from the probe were soon seen all over Earth as we got our first close-up look at our planetary neighbor. Viking 2 landed a few weeks later. Like the Pathfinder rovers that followed in 1997, Viking was expected to last but a short time -- only three months -- but instead continued to gather and return data for six years."

Built to last

[Joebert]

Viking was expected to last but a short time -- only three months -- but instead continued to gather and return data for six years

They just don't build them like they used to.
I can't even get a computer to last 3 months, let alone 6 years.

vikings landed on mars?

[RelliK]

Those vikings! First they colonized North America. Now we find out they went to Mars too! They were one tough bunch! Masters of intergallactic navigation.

Transport vehicle

[Anonymous Coward]

You know what's even more amazing is how the Vikings managed to cross the vast distance on a wind-powered raft.

"...bloody Vikings..." -Monty Python

Re:Humans?

[0racle]

Why? Mars ain't the kind of place to raise your kids.

Re:Also the anniversery of the 1st lunar landing

[Apraxhren]

Pssh that wasn't even real!

Re:Built to last

[kimvette]

And think, the contract for the Viking went to the lowest bidder. One can only wonder what components the GP is selecting. Bill & Ted's bogus motherboard?

Re:Humans?

[lottameez]

In fact, it's cold as hell.

Re:vikings landed on mars?

[numbware]

Not to mention they have those crazy hats.

Re:Built to last

[bsartist]

And I've got to ask, what do you do to your computers that kills them in three months?

He installs Windows, obviously. :-)

Re:Humans?

[nickheart]

And there's no one there to raise them, if you did.

Re:Imagine how NASA will do when they go metric!

[n0dna]

They produce sounds like "WHANG!" and "BOOM!" and "CRASH!"

I would like to see them switch to Discovery Channel measurements myself... distance in football fields, weight in tractor-trailer trucks, and volume in ping-pong balls.

Re:Humans?

[nizo]

Yeah but the first person there gets a free coffee table (viking lander) worth one billion dollars and a free footstool (mars rover) worth 300 million.

Re:Transport vehicle

[Amazing Quantum Man]

The Viking landers didn't use wind power to get to Mars, they used SPAM (tm)!

SPAM, SPAM, SPAM, SPAM! Wonderful SPAM!

Note: SPAM (all caps) is a trademark of Hormel.

NSIWT

[Nefarious Wheel]

I remember working in SFOF in Pasadena during the landing. Pretty magic. Walter Cronkite was there, lots of SF luminaries.

One of my favorite memories was a Xerox'ed cartoon of a lovely sylvan setting, Viking 1 parked by a meandering stream, three-eared rabbits running by, trees.... and a two-headed eagle flying away with the high-gain antenna.

Re:Built to last

[SpaceLifeForm]

As I've said multiple times before,
it's still a tossup as to the rovers staying
alive past the Vista release date.

I'm siding with the rovers, even if Vista
doesn't become stable until 2010.

Re:You obvioulsy don't have kids.

[Kadin2048]

Yeah but it would drive your dog crazy.

Re:Also the anniversery of the 1st lunar landing

[UglyTool]

See, this is what I really love about /.

Insightful? WTF mods?

Funny? Maybe.

Delightfully sarcastic? Sure.

Inisghtful?

It's even funnier, because I'll be modded down as Troll or Flamebait...

Re:Also the anniversery of the 1st lunar landing

[Profane MuthaFucka]

What if you are not a member of the homo sapiens club and are instead a 37 fingered Zorg? This is a very fucking significant anniversary in that case! If you're going to move out into the solar system, could you at least open your mind to the other species who hopefully will purchase your smallpox infested blankets?

Gotta love Google Ads

[Tablizer]

You know the ads are bogus script tricks when a Google search turns up an ad that says, "Compare prices on Viking Mars Landers and save!". For NASA, it is a little too late to think about that.

Re:Humans?

[saskboy]

I was raised on Mars. Did you play Doom too?

dust removal

[mshurpik]

>Like the Pathfinder rovers that followed in 1997, Viking was expected to last but a short time -- only three months -- but instead continued to gather and return data for six years."

Right, because someone goes out at night and wipes the dust off the solar panels.

Re:Also the anniversery of the 1st lunar landing

[afaik_ianal]

I have to wonder though if there might be some kind of ulterior motive going on with it

To get the funding, NASA had to tell congress that it was actually an invasion mission in which the Lunarian race would be freed from the evil Man in the Moon.

Re:line by line

[triffid_98]

Don't forget the SPF3000 sunblock you'd need [wikipedia.org] in the case of any solar flare activity. Mars may be the second most habitable planet in the solar system, but that ain't saying much.

It was obvious a person could walk around in that landscape, with enough warm clothing.

Technically, they probably could not. The air pressure is less than 1 percent that of Earth. Even with oxegen masks, the pressure is far too light. People would burst, making blood spray all over turning the planet red......red? Hmmmmm....

Re:line by line

[Ihlosi]

People would burst, making blood spray all over turning the planet red......red?

No, that only happens in a vacuum. That is, the total intellectual vacuum of movie physics, not an actual physical vacuum.

Re:Humans?

[someone1234]

Vikings ARE humans.

Re:Humans?

[heinousjay]

(Potatoe chips to North Americans)

Only to Dan Quayle.