Mars - Viking 1 Lander

First Camera 1 Panorama of Chryse Planitia on Mars

Mars
This is the first panoramic image of Chryse Planitia taken by camera 1 on the Viking 1 Lander. The image was taken on 23 July 1976, three days after Viking 1 landed. The meteorology boom is at the center of the image and to the left is the support for the high-gain dish antenna. The bright area to the left is the late afternoon Sun in the west. The bright horizontal lines in the sky are not clouds, they are caused by internal reflections in the camera housing. Features on the horizon are about 3 km away. The dark rock at the center of the frame, nicknamed "Big Joe", is about 3 meters across and 8 meters from the lander. The center of the frame shows fine grained material forming a small dune field. The material forms horseshoe shaped scour marks and wind tails around the rocks, which are about 10 cm across. (Viking 1 Lander, P-17428)
Larger image ( 76K)

High resolution tiff file (1.2M)

Location & Time Information
Date/Time (UT): 1976-08-05
Distance/Range (km): 0.01
Central Latitude/Longitude (deg): 022.27 N, 49.97 W
Orbit(s): lander

Imaging Information
Area or Feature Type: lander image, surface
Instrument: Viking Lander Scanning Camera 1
Instrument Resolution (pixels): 512 vertical, 6 bit
Instrument Field of View (deg): 100 x 0.12 (single scan), 100 x 342.5 (max.)
Filter: N/A
Illumination Incidence Angle (deg): N/A
Phase Angle (deg): N/A
Instrument Look Direction: N/A
Surface Emission Angle (deg): 90.

Ordering Information
CD-ROM Volume: N/A
NASA Image ID number: P-17428
Other Image ID number: 11A018/003
NSSDC Data Set ID (Photo): 75-075C-06F
NSSDC Data Set ID (CD): N/A
Other ID: N/A

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[NASA Logo] Authors/Curators:

Dave Williams, dave.williams@nasa.gov, (301) 286-1258
Code 690.1, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA

Jay Friedlander, jay.s.friedlander@nasa.gov, (301) 286-7172
Code 612.4, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA

NASA Official: Dr. David R. Williams, David.R.Williams@nasa.gov
Last updated: 24 September 2015