vil1_v_bw_o_n (75-H-463, 75-HC-274)
“This is artist Don Davis' conception of the Viking Mars lander as it heads for a touch down on the Martian surface at the prime landing site, Chryse, about July 4, 1976. The view is to the west, with Earth about 20 degrees below the Sun. Parachute in left background carries the aeroshell from which the lander detaches at a distance of about 20,000 feet from the surface. The Mars landing will culminate a 704-million-kilometer (440-million-mile) Viking journey from Earth which is scheduled to begin with launch on August 11, 1975.”
And/or:
“Captured here in this rendering is a Viking lander just before it touched down on the Martian surface. The parachute and upper aeroshell can be seen in the upper left corner of the image. At this stage of the descent, the lander's terminal descent propulsion system (three retro-engines) had slowed the craft down so that velocity at landing was about of 2 meters per second (7 mph). Seconds after the lander reached the surface it began transmitting images back to the orbiter for relay to Earth.”
At:
www.tsgc.utexas.edu/spacecraft/viking/land2.html
Credit: Texas Space Grant Consortium website
vil1_v_bw_o_n (75-H-463, 75-HC-274)
“This is artist Don Davis' conception of the Viking Mars lander as it heads for a touch down on the Martian surface at the prime landing site, Chryse, about July 4, 1976. The view is to the west, with Earth about 20 degrees below the Sun. Parachute in left background carries the aeroshell from which the lander detaches at a distance of about 20,000 feet from the surface. The Mars landing will culminate a 704-million-kilometer (440-million-mile) Viking journey from Earth which is scheduled to begin with launch on August 11, 1975.”
And/or:
“Captured here in this rendering is a Viking lander just before it touched down on the Martian surface. The parachute and upper aeroshell can be seen in the upper left corner of the image. At this stage of the descent, the lander's terminal descent propulsion system (three retro-engines) had slowed the craft down so that velocity at landing was about of 2 meters per second (7 mph). Seconds after the lander reached the surface it began transmitting images back to the orbiter for relay to Earth.”
At:
www.tsgc.utexas.edu/spacecraft/viking/land2.html
Credit: Texas Space Grant Consortium website