1. Goal: To understand what we learned about Mars from the Viking probes Objectives: 1) To see what the Viking probes were able to see 2) To examine why they saw what they saw. 3) To learn about what the Viking probes discovered

2. What year was this image taken?

3. But if we look closer… Viking 1 took this image in 1978 (landed 1976). Saw a very dry barren landscape.

4. The Viking Project There had been several failed attempts to get a craft to Mars and to get good info back. Both the USA and Russia had tried several times. This lead to the Viking Project – which was 2 spacecraft.

5. Viking 1 Launched August 20, 1975. Came in 2 parts, a 600 kg Lander and a 900 kg orbiter. Viking 1 arrived at Mars on June 19, 1976

6. The landing The orbiter took pictures of Mars for a month. This allowed NASA to find the best place to land the lander.

7. Orbiter images:

8. More images » Mud flow debris fields

9. A few more cyclone! volcanoes

10. One last, Olympus Mons

11. From the ground:

12. Viking 2 to the rescue? Launched about 3 weeks after Viking 1. Reached orbit August 7, 1976 The Lander landed 1 month later.

13. Viking 2 Orbiter

14. One more

15. Viking 2 lander images Frost!

16. Where did they land? http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/astro/marsprobemap.html

17. Their lives The Viking 1 lander stopped sending information back on Nov. 13, 1982 Viking 2 being in the harsher upper latitudes failed on April 11, 1980

18. Some of what they found: Mapped the seasonal change of the water vapor in the atmosphere. Showed that not all of the polar cap went away for the northern cap in the summer and that it was all water ice that remained. They documented numerous dust storms that Mars is now famous for. The composition of the atmosphere

19. What they did not find: Organic materials in the soil. The internal structure.

20. You would think we would learn from past mistakes…

21. Phobos – from Viking

22. Conclusion We have examined the Viking missions to Mars. We have seen a lot of cool Mars photos that are older than most of us. We have examined what the Viking probes have taught us about Mars. Mars says have a great weekend!