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Mission · 1975–1982

Viking 1

Viking 1 was the first successful U.S. mission to land and operate on Mars, combining a long-lived orbiter with a pioneering surface laboratory.

Project Viking program insignia used for the Viking 1 and Viking 2 landers.
Mission patch
Reading time
1 min
Level
Advanced
Sources
4 cited
Updated
13 Jul 2026

Viking 1 view of its Martian landing site.Real photograph · NASA / images.nasa.gov · Public Domain (NASA)

Mission facts

Date
1975–1982
Agency
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Mission
Viking 1

#NASA#Viking#Mars

Contents · 7
  1. 01Overview
  2. 02Mission timeline
  3. 03Facts
  4. 04Gallery
  5. 05Check yourself
  6. 06Sources
  7. 07Connections

Viking 1 delivered the first U.S. lander to Mars and operated there for more than six years. Its cameras, weather instruments and biology experiments gave humanity its first detailed view of a Martian landing site.

Mission timeline

4 chapters

Select a phase to read what happened. Every chapter has its own detailed page.

Viking 1 sunset
20 August 1975

Launch and cruise

Viking 1 launched toward Mars.

Read the chapter
1 / 4

Facts

  1. First successful U.S. Mars landing.
  2. Lander operated for more than six years.
  3. Returned the first detailed color surface images.
  4. Searched for signs of microbial life.

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Gallery

5 images · click to zoom

Check yourself

How would you look for life on another planet?

Answer in your own words — everything you need is in the article above.

Next lesson: Voyager 1 Exploring the Solar System

Sources & further reading

last verified · 13 July 2026

  1. Mission overview.
  2. Mission history and results.
  3. Mission record.
  4. Public-domain photographs.

Spaceflightpedia. (n.d.). Viking 1. Retrieved 9 October 2026, from https://spaceflightpedia.com/article/viking-1

article text — CC-BY-SA · ◉ NASA photography — public domain · ✦ AI illustration — marked, generated from sources

Connections

Connection graph

National Aerona…CuriosityMariner 9Apollo 11Apollo 12Apollo 7Cassini–HuygensViking 1

Picture index

4 · open image

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