109k GIF Smithsonian Institution photograph #80-3070 by D. Penland	Milestone: First Spacecraft to Operate on the Surface of Mars
	Date of Milestone: July 20, 1976
	Spacecraft: Viking Lander
	Operated By: Jet Propulsion Laboratory
	Spacecraft Location: Smithsonian Institution, National Air and Space Museum, Milestones of Flight Gallery

Two Viking landers were the first spacecraft to conduct prolonged scientific studies on the surface of another planet. Viking 1 began its 10-month journey to Mars on August 20, 1975. Viking 2 followed on September 9. After entering Mars orbit, the spacecraft orbiters conducted photographic surveys of the planet's surface to assist in the search for safe landing sites. Viking 1 landed on July 20, 1976; Viking 2 landed on September 3.

Instruments aboard the spacecraft provided valuable information on the Martian atmosphere and surface. Biological experiments on the Viking landers did not detect signs of life or any of the organic compounds that are abundant on Earth.

The Viking 1 Mars lander continued to transmit photographs and other data periodically from the Martian surface until November 1982, almost 6 1/2 years after its 1976 landing. The Viking 2 lander ceased operating in April 1980.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration formally transferred ownership of the Viking 1 lander on Mars to the National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution. That lander is virtually identical to the "proof test article" displayed in the museum.

On January 7, 1981, NASA Administrator Robert A. Frosch formally renamed the Viking 1 lander on Mars the Thomas A. Mutch Memorial Station. The designation honors NASA's fourth associate administrator for the Office of Space Science and the former leader of the Viking Lander Imaging Science Team. Mutch died on October 7, 1980, while climbing in the Himalayas.
Transferred from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

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