Viking: 50 Years on Mars — Poster

Throughout history, Mars had been in sight, but never within reach — until July 20, 1976, when NASA’s Viking 1 lander touched down safely and began transmitting the first images from the surface of the Red Planet.  

Its twin, Viking 2, arrived a few weeks later, on Sept. 3, 1976. Each of the landers was paired with an orbiter that ferried them to the planet and then remained aloft for years. They gathered unprecedented data and breathtaking images of Mars, in detail that still evokes awe and wonder today.

The landers, on opposite sides of the planet, dug their sample arms into the ground, unearthing the first clues about Mars and the potential for life there. They far outlasted their expected 90-day missions, with the Viking 2 lander operating until 1980, and Viking 1 until 1982. 

These robotic explorers started an investigation that’s lasted 50 years, and continues to go broader and deeper. Mars missions ever since, and those yet to come, seek to uncover whether the planet’s once warm and wet climate was ever habitable to some form of life, as our discoveries help inform sustainability for human exploration in the future. They continue to build on what the Vikings began.

NASA on Mars

This poster celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Viking 1 landing on July 20, 1976, and NASA's continuing surface exploration of Mars since then. It highlights Viking and a selection of missions representing the past, present, and future of Mars surface exploration. Learn more about them, and the rest of NASA’s Mars missions, which includes nearly two dozen landers, rovers, orbiters, and more, at go.nasa/mars-missions