NASAさんのインスタグラム写真 - (NASAInstagram)「45 years ago today, a trailblazing Mars mission lifted off from Cape Canaveral. 🚀⁣ ⁣ Viking 1 launched on Aug. 20, 1975 aboard a Titan IIIE rocket with a Centaur upper stage, and traveled nearly a half-billion miles to the Red Planet over the next 11 months. After release from its orbiter, the Viking 1 lander touched down on July 20, 1976, marking the first time the United States successfully landed a vehicle on the surface of Mars. Viking 1 gave us our first closeup picture of the dusty, rocky Martian surface, as well as the fundamental science that enabled future missions. ⁣ ⁣ Our @NASA_Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, managed the Viking project to develop Viking 1 and its twin, Viking 2. The Viking orbiters carried sophisticated equipment to take high-resolution images, while the landers carried cameras, instruments to study the Martian surface and atmosphere, and instruments to detect possible signs of present or past life. Planned to operate for 90 days, both missions far exceeded their expected lifetimes. The orbiters returned 52,663 images of Mars, mapping 97% of its surface at a resolution of 300 meters, while the landers monitored weather changes at the surface and sent back over 4,500 photographs.⁣ ⁣ Credit: NASA⁣ ⁣ #Liftoff #Launch #NASA #Viking #Mars #NASAHistory #TBT #ThrowbackThursday」8月21日 6時34分