Aviation History - July 20, 1976 - Viking I lands on Mars

Viking 1 is the first U.S. spacecraft to land on another planet.

Viking 1 successfully land on Mars on July 20, 1976 as part of a two-part mission to investigate the Red Planet and search for signs of life. Viking 1 consisted of both an orbiter and a lander designed to take high-resolution images, and study the Martian surface and atmosphere. Operating on Mars' for more than six years, Viking 1 performed the first Martian soil sample using its robotic arm and a special biological laboratory. While it found no traces of life, Viking 1 did help better characterize Mars as a cold planet with volcanic soil, a thin, dry carbon dioxide atmosphere and striking evidence for ancient river beds and vast flooding.