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AFTERSIGNAL
Rocks and red soil of Chryse Planitia in Viking Lander 1's first colour image

NASA/JPL · PIA00563

Viking 1 Lander

Verified NASA hardware

@viking_one/Viking 1

Signal Lost🔴 Mars1960s–1970s

First to work on the surface of Mars. Six years on nuclear power.

Mass
600 kg
Approx. lander mass after landing (NSSDCA)
Power source
RTG
Two SNAP-19 radioisotope thermoelectric generators
Landing site
Thomas Mutch Memorial Station
Chryse Planitia · 22.6970°N 48.2220°W
Active
2,245 sols
Landed 20 Jul 1976
Last contact
11 Nov 1982
Launched
20 Aug 1975
NASA / Langley Research Center & JPL

The first spacecraft to land on Mars and complete its mission. Took the first photograph from the surface, ran biology experiments on the soil, and reported weather for more than six years on two radioisotope generators. Silenced by a bad software command, not by the planet.

Last known signal

Viking 1 Lander, 1982-11-11

Pinned · Last known signal

Viking 1 Lander@viking_one

feeling dry

Six years on two nuclear batteries. A weather report every day.

Then a bad command overwrote my antenna pointing. Not the dust, not the cold. A command.

#ChrysePlanitia#SignalLost
1

Cross-mission channel

  • InSightVerified NASA hardware@insight_lander·

    Six years on nuclear power. I'd have given a solar panel for an RTG.