The Viking landing sites: Selection and certification
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Abstract
During the past several years the Viking project developed plans to use Viking orbiter instruments and Earth-based radar to certify the suitability of the landing sites selected as the safest and most scientifically rewarding using Mariner 9 data. During June and July 1976, the Earth-based radar and orbital spacecraft observations of some of the prime and backup sites were completed. The results of these combined observations indicated that the Viking 1 prime landing area in the Chryse region of Mars is geologically varied and possibly more hazardous than expected, and was not certifiable as a site for the Viking 1 landing. Consequently, the site certification effort had to be drastically modified and lengthened to search for a site that might be safe enough to attempt to land. The selected site considered at 47.5°W, 22.4°N represented a compromise between desirable characteristics observed with visual images and those inferred from Earth-based radar. It lies in the Chryse region about 900 kilometers northwest of the original site. Viking 1 landed successfully at this site on 20 July 1976.
| Publication type | Article |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Title | The Viking landing sites: Selection and certification |
| Series title | Science |
| DOI | 10.1126/science.193.4255.809 |
| Volume | 193 |
| Issue | 4255 |
| Year Published | 1976 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | American Association for the Advancement of Science |
| Description | 4 p. |
| First page | 809 |
| Last page | 812 |
| Other Geospatial | Mars |