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| Viking 2 landed at Utopia Planitia on September 3, 1976.
At left is an image of the Viking 2 lander's arm, which could
scoop up soil to test it for life.
The Viking program use two identical orbiters and landers,
which were put down on nearly opposite sides of the planet. Viking 1 landed in Chryse Planitia.
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The topography of the Utopia Planitia is remarkably flat, with slopes in
the near field of less than 1 degree and those on the horizon all less than
2 degrees. Viking 2 is somewhat near the large Mie Crater.
Viking Orbiter 2 functioned until August 7, 1980,
while Viking Lander 2 made its final transmission to Earth April 11th, 1980.
Below are images of Utopia Planitia and the Viking 2 landing spot.
At left is a MOLA image showing the region around Mie Crater. Viking 2
landed to the left of it. The elevations are shown on the key below. At
right is a image of the the same general area, but with a closeup of the Viking 2 landing location.
If you click on the images, you will be taken to a larger versions.
MOLA |
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Elevation Key for MOLA image.
Other Resources
JPL's site about Viking 2
Page 2 of JPL's site about Viking 2
About Utopia Planitia
Viking 1
and 2
Marsoweb site on Viking 1 landing location
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