Usage Conditions May ApplyUsage Conditions ApplyThere are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.
IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections.
More -
https://iiif.si.eduView ManifestView in Mirador Viewer
This is the stand for the proof test article of the Viking Mars Lander. For exploration of Mars, Viking represented the culmination of a series of exploratory missions that had begun in 1964 with Mariner 4 and continued with Mariner 6 and Mariner 7 flybys in 1969 and a Mariner 9 orbital mission in 1971 and 1972. The Viking mission used two identical spacecraft, each consisting of a lander and an orbiter. Launched on August 20, 1975 from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Viking 1 spent nearly a year cruising to Mars, placed an orbiter in operation around the planet, and landed on July, 20 1976 on the Chryse Planitia (Golden Plains). Viking 2 was launched on September 9, 1975 and landed on September 3, 1976. The Viking project's primary mission ended on November 15, 1976, 11 days before Mars's superior conjunction (its passage behind the sun), although the Viking spacecraft continued to operate for six years after first reaching Mars. The last transmission from the planet reached Earth on November 11, 1982.
NASA transferred this artifact to the Museum in 1979, along with the Viking Lander proof test article.
Display Status
This object is not on display at the National Air and Space Museum. It is either on loan or in storage.
Object Details
Country of Origin
United States of America
Type
SPACECRAFT-Uncrewed-Parts & Structural Components
Dimensions
3-D (Aluminum Pallet Storage): 251.5 × 232.4 × 110.5cm, 236.3kg (8 ft. 3 in. × 7 ft. 7 1/2 in. × 3 ft. 7 1/2 in., 521lb.)
3-D (Stand, Viking Mars Lander): 237.5 × 216.5 × 81.9cm, 92.1kg (7 ft. 9 1/2 in. × 7 ft. 1 1/4 in. × 2 ft. 8 1/4 in., 203lb.) Materials
Aluminum, Paint, Steel, Plastic, Copper Inventory Number
A19790215002
Credit Line
Transferred from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Data Source
National Air and Space Museum
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
For more information, visit the Smithsonians Terms of Use.