Frost on Mars. 1977-12-09
(Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech.)

The Viking 2 mission was part of the Viking program to Mars, and consisted of an orbiter and a lander essentially identical to that of the Viking 1 mission. Viking-2 picture; http://photojournal. ... Viking-2 picture; http://photojournal. ... Viking mission profile. ... Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the solar system, named after the Roman god of war (the counterpart of the Greek Ares), on account of its blood red color as viewed in the night sky. ... The Viking 1 was the first of two spacecraft sent to Mars as part of NASAs Viking program. ...

Mission profile

The craft was launched on September 9, 1975. Following launch using a Titan/Centaur launch vehicle and a 333 day cruise to Mars, the Viking 2 Orbiter began returning global images of Mars prior to orbit insertion. The orbiter was inserted into a 1500 x 33,000 km, 24.6 h Mars orbit on August 7, 1976 and trimmed to a 27.3 h site certification orbit with a periapsis of 1499 km and an inclination of 55.2 degrees on 9 August. Imaging of candidate sites was begun and the landing site was selected based on these pictures and the images returned by the Viking 1 Orbiter. The Titan IIIC is a space booster used by the United States Air Force. ... Model of Centaur with Surveyor as payload. ... An orbiter is a spacecraft that orbits a planet or moon without landing on it in order to study the objects surface from a safe distance. ... is the 219th day of the year (220th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... A diagram of Keplerian orbital elements. ... is the 221st day of the year (222nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

The lander separated from the orbiter on September 3, 1976 and landed at Utopia Planitia at 22:37:50 UT. Normal operations called for the structure connecting the orbiter and lander (the bioshield) to be ejected after separation, but because of problems with the separation the bioshield was left attached to the orbiter. The orbit inclination was raised to 75 degrees on 30 September 1976. is the 246th day of the year (247th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... PIA00571: Ice on Mars Utopia Planitia Again (NASA/JPL) Utopia Planitia is the Martian location where the Viking 2 Mars lander arrived and first explored on September 3, 1976. ... Universal Time (UT) is a timescale based on the rotation of the Earth. ... is the 273rd day of the year (274th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is an agency of the United States government, responsible for the nations public space program. ... Adjectives: Martian Atmosphere Surface pressure: 0. ... is the 219th day of the year (220th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 252nd day of the year (253rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Titan IIIC is a space booster used by the United States Air Force. ... Model of Centaur with Surveyor as payload. ... is the 252nd day of the year (253rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 206th day of the year (207th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1978 Gregorian calendar). ... NASA logo The National Space Science Data Center (NSSDC) is a department in NASAs Solar System Exploration Division. ...

Orbiter

The orbiter primary mission ended at the beginning of solar conjunction on 8 November 1976. The extended mission commenced on 14 December 1976 after solar conjunction. On 20 December 1976 the periapsis was lowered to 778 km and the inclination raised to 80 degrees. Operations included close approaches to Deimos in October 1977 and the periapsis was lowered to 300 km and the period changed to 24 hours on 23 October 1977. The orbiter developed a leak in its propulsion system that vented its attitude control gas. It was placed in a 302 × 33176 km orbit and turned off on 25 July 1978 after returning almost 16,000 images in 706 orbits around Mars. is the 312th day of the year (313th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 348th day of the year (349th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 354th day of the year (355th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... October 23 is the 296th day of the year (297th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Also: 1977 (album) by Ash. ... is the 206th day of the year (207th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1978 Gregorian calendar). ...

Viking 2 Lander
Viking Lander model
Organization:	NASA
Mission type:	Lander
Launch date:	September 9, 1975
Launch vehicle:	Titan IIIE/Centaur launch vehicle
Mission duration:	September 3, 1976 to April 11, 1980
NSSDC ID:	1975-083C
Webpage:	Viking Project Information
Mass:	572 kg
Power:	70 W
edit

Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 692 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1745 × 1512 pixel, file size: 412 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) viking_lander_model - NASA - File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Viking 1 List of... The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is an agency of the United States government, responsible for the nations public space program. ... is the 252nd day of the year (253rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Titan IIIC is a space booster used by the United States Air Force. ... Model of Centaur with Surveyor as payload. ... is the 246th day of the year (247th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 101st day of the year (102nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar). ... NASA logo The National Space Science Data Center (NSSDC) is a department in NASAs Solar System Exploration Division. ...

Lander

Photo of the Viking 2 lander taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter in December 2006

The lander and its aeroshell separated from the orbiter on 3 September 19:39:59 UT. At the time of separation, the lander was orbiting at about 4 km/s. After separation, rockets fired to begin lander deorbit. After a few hours, at about 300 km altitude, the lander was reoriented for entry. The aeroshell with its ablative heat shield slowed the craft as it plunged through the atmosphere. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 583 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (824 × 847 pixel, file size: 346 KB, MIME type: image/png) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Viking 2 ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 583 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (824 × 847 pixel, file size: 346 KB, MIME type: image/png) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Viking 2 ... NASAs Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) is a multipurpose spacecraft designed to conduct reconnaissance and exploration of Mars from orbit. ... I dont have a clue what an areoshell is. ... is the 246th day of the year (247th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... ... In aeronautics, a heat shield is a protective layer on a spacecraft or ballistic missile that is designed to protect it from high temperatures, usually those that result from aerobraking during entry into a planets atmosphere. ...

The Viking 2 Lander touched down about 200 km west of the crater Mie in Utopia Planitia at 48.269 ºN 225.990º W at an altitude of 4.23 km relative to a reference ellipsoid with an equatorial radius of 3397.2 km and a flattening of 0.0105 (47.967° N, 225.737° W planetographic) at 22:58:20 UT (9:49:05 a.m. local Mars time). PIA00571: Ice on Mars Utopia Planitia Again (NASA/JPL) Utopia Planitia is the Martian location where the Viking 2 Mars lander arrived and first explored on September 3, 1976. ... The flattening, ellipticity, or oblateness of an oblate spheroid is the relative difference between its equatorial radius a and its polar radius b: The flattening of the Earth is 1:298. ... Longitude is the east-west geographic coordinate measurement most commonly utilized in cartography and global navigation. ...

   

Viking Lander 2 image of Utopia Planitia.

Frost at the landing site (image slightly enhanced to bring out frost detail)

Approximately 22 kg of propellants were left at landing. Due to radar misidentification of a rock or highly reflective surface, the thrusters fired an extra time 0.4 seconds before landing, cracking the surface and raising dust. The lander settled down with one leg on a rock, tilted at 8.2 degrees. The cameras began taking images immediately after landing. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 156 pixelsFull resolution (2622 × 512 pixel, file size: 186 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Original Caption Released with Image: This rocky panoramic scene is the second picture of the Martian surface that was taken by Viking Lander 2 shortly after... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 156 pixelsFull resolution (2622 × 512 pixel, file size: 186 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Original Caption Released with Image: This rocky panoramic scene is the second picture of the Martian surface that was taken by Viking Lander 2 shortly after... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links Viking2_frost_enhance. ... Image File history File links Viking2_frost_enhance. ...

The Viking 2 lander operated on the surface for 1281 Mars days and was turned off on April 11, 1980 when its batteries failed. is the 101st day of the year (102nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar). ...

External link

• Viking 2 Mission Profile by NASA's Solar System Exploration

See also

• Viking 1
• Exploration of Mars
• Space exploration
• Unmanned space missions

v • d • e Mars Spacecraft Missions
Flybys	Mariner 4 - Mariner 6 - Mariner 7 - Mars 4 - Rosetta
Orbiters	Mariner 9 - Mars 2 - Mars 3 - Mars 5 - Mars 6 - Viking 1 - Viking 2 - Phobos 2 - Mars Global Surveyor Mars Odyssey - Mars Express Orbiter - Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
Landers and Rovers	Mars 3 - Viking 1 - Viking 2 - Mars Pathfinder - Spirit rover - Opportunity rover
Future	2007: Dawn - Phoenix Scout 2009: Mars Science Laboratory - Phobos-Grunt & Yinghuo-1 2011: Mars Scout 2011 2013: Mars Science and Telecommunications Orbiter - ExoMars 2016: Astrobiology Field Laboratory The Viking 1 was the first of two spacecraft sent to Mars as part of NASAs Viking program. ... Computer generated image of one of the two Mars Exploration Rovers which touched down on Mars in 2004. ... Space exploration is the physical exploration of outer space, both by human spaceflights and by robotic spacecraft. ... It has been suggested that Space probe be merged into this article or section. ... Adjectives: Martian Atmosphere Surface pressure: 0. ... Computer generated image of one of the two Mars Exploration Rovers which touched down on Mars in 2004. ... The first close-up image ever taken of Mars, this photo shows an area about 330 km across by 1200 km from limb to bottom of frame. ... Mariner 6. ... As part of the wider Mariner program, in 1969 Mariner 6 and Mariner 7 completed the first dual mission to Mars, flying by over the equator and south polar regions and analysing atmosphere and surface with remote sensors as well as recording and relaying hundreds of pictures. ... The Mars program was a series of Mars unmanned landers and orbiters launched by the Soviet Union in the early 1970s. ... Rosetta is a European Space Agency-led unmanned space mission launched in 2004 intended to study the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. ... Viking-2 picture; http://photojournal. ... Mariner 9 launch Mariner 9 was a NASA space probe orbiter that helped in the exploration of Mars and was part of the Mariner program. ... The Mars program was a series of Mars unmanned landers and orbiters launched by the Soviet Union in the early 1970s. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Mars 2. ... The Mars program was a series of Mars unmanned landers and orbiters launched by the Soviet Union in the early 1970s. ... The Mars program was a series of Mars unmanned landers and orbiters launched by the Soviet Union in the early 1970s. ... The Viking 1 was the first of two spacecraft sent to Mars as part of NASAs Viking program. ... The Phobos program was an unmanned space mission consisting of two probes launched by the Soviet Union to study Mars and its moons Phobos and Deimos. ... The Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) was a US spacecraft developed by NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and launched November 1996. ... Artists concept of the 2001 Mars Odyssey Spacecraft 2001 Mars Odyssey is an unmanned spacecraft orbiting the planet Mars. ... Oblique view of the Reull Vallis near the Hellas basin, rendered from data obtained by the Mars Express orbiters High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) The Mars Express Orbiter is part of the Mars Express program, a European Space Agency (ESA) mission to Mars. ... NASAs Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) is a multipurpose spacecraft designed to conduct reconnaissance and exploration of Mars from orbit. ... A Mars Rover is an unmanned land vehicle for exploration of the planet Mars. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Mars 2. ... The Viking 1 was the first of two spacecraft sent to Mars as part of NASAs Viking program. ... The Mars Pathfinder was launched on December 4, 1996 by NASA aboard a Delta II just a month after the Mars Global Surveyor was launched. ... The mission patch for Spirit, featuring Marvin the Martian. ... The launch patch for Opportunity, featuring Duck Dodgers (Daffy Duck). ... The Dawn Mission is a NASA mission that will send the Dawn spacecraft, a robotic space probe, to the asteroid belt. ... Phoenix is a robotic spacecraft on a space exploration mission to Mars under the Mars Scout Program. ... 2007 Mars Science Laboratory concept Schematic diagram of the planned rover components The Mars Science Laboratory (or MSL for short) is a NASA rover scheduled to launch in September 2009 and perform a precision landing on Mars in July-September 2010. ... Phobos-Grunt (rus. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... The Mars Science and Telecommunication Orbiter or MSTO is a proposal for what would be primarily an infrastructure component for future missions, but also perform some yet to be determined science activities of its own. ... ExoMars model at ILA 2006 (Berlin) ExoMars. ... The Astrobiology Field Laboratory is a proposed NASA unmanned planetary spacecraft to explore the planet Mars. ... 2024?: Mars Sample Return Mission
See also	Mars - Exploration of Mars - Colonization of Mars