Viking Program Owen Keupp Period 9

The mission NASA's Viking consisted of a pair of space probes sent to Mars, Viking 1 and Viking 2. Each vehicle was composed of two main parts, an orbiter designed to photograph the surface of Mars from orbit, and a Lander designed to study the planet from the surface. The orbiters also served as communication relays for the Landers once they touched down.

Carl Sagan, the creator, standing with a model of the space lander.

The Orbiters The primary objectives of the Viking orbiters were to transport the Landers to Mars, perform reconnaissance to locate and certify landing sites, act as a communications relays for the Landers, and to perform their own scientific investigations. The total launch mass was 2328 kg, of which 1445 kg were propellant and attitude control gas. The eight faces of the ring-like structure were 0.4572 m high and were alternately 1.397 and 0.508 m wide. The overall height was 3.29 m from the Lander attachment points on the bottom to the launch vehicle attachment points on top.

The build of the orbiters Four solar panel wings extended from the axis of the orbiter, the distance from tip to tip of two oppositely extended solar panels was 9.75 m. The power was provided by eight 1.57 × 1.23 m solar panels, two on each wing. The solar panels were made up of a total of 34,800 solar cells and produced 620 W of power at Mars. Power was also stored in 2 nickel-cadmium 30-A H batteries.

The Experiment The Viking Landers conducted biological experiments designed to detect life in the Martian soil if it existed with experiments designed by three separate teams, under the direction of chief scientist Gerald Soffen of NASA. The results were initially positive and one experiment met all NASA's criteria for the detection of life, but based on the results of another test that failed to reveal any organic molecules in the soil, most scientists became convinced that the results were likely caused by non-biological chemical reactions from highly oxidizing soil conditions.