Society for Science & the Public, which publishes Science News, uses cookies to personalize your experience and improve our services. For more information on how we use cookies on our websites, visit our Cookie Policy.
Science Ticker Planetary Science

40 years ago, Viking 1 pioneered U.S. exploration on Mars

Mars landing site

Forty years ago, Viking 1 took this picture of its landing site (and footpad) on Mars, the first clear image from the surface of the Red Planet.

NASA, Roel van der Hoorn

By Christopher Crockett

This article is only available to Science News subscribers.

Subscribers, enter your e-mail address to access our archives.

Not a subscriber?

Science News is a nonprofit.

Support us by subscribing now.

More Stories from Science News on Planetary Science

  1. photo of Perseverance launch
    Planetary Science

    The Perseverance rover caps off a month of Mars launches

    By Lisa Grossman
  2. scientists in the Nevada desert
    Space

    To rehearse Perseverance’s mission, scientists pretended to be a Mars rover

    By Lisa Grossman
  3. Image of the Perseverance rover
    Planetary Science

    NASA’s Perseverance rover will seek signs of past life on Mars

    By Lisa Grossman
  4. aerial photo of a dome on Mauna Loa
    Space

    Two new books explore Mars — and what it means to be human

    By Lisa Grossman
  5. Dust storm on Mars
    Planetary Science

    How upcoming missions to Mars will help predict its wild dust storms

    By Lisa Grossman
  6. Planetary Science

    Some exoplanets may be covered in weird water that’s between liquid and gas

    By Maria Temming
  7. Gas giant core planet illustration
    Space

    A newfound exoplanet may be the exposed core of a gas giant

    By Lisa Grossman
  8. illustration of moonlet asteroid
    Planetary Science

    An asteroid’s moon got a name so NASA can bump it off its course

    By Maria Temming

From the Nature Index

Paid Content