Mars - Viking 1 Lander
First Panoramic View of the Surface of Mars
This is the first panoramic view ever returned from the surface of Mars. This view
from Camera 2 on Viking 1 shows Chryse Planitia on 20 July 1976, shortly after
Viking landed. The local time was late afternoon, the brightness on the right
side of the frame is due ot the Sun to the west. The panorama covers 300 degrees.
In the foreground are parts of the lander: the meteorology boom at extreme left,
the housing for the sample arm, which has not been deployed yet, at left the cover
for the radiothermal generator and at far left the high-gain dish antenna.
Scattered rocks appear in the foreground center, ranging in size from about 10 to
20 cm across, and to the left and right can be seen areas of fine-grained material
which are the edges of a small dune field. The features on the horizon are
roughly 3 km away. The white band be seen in the center of the sky is not a cloud
but simply a spurious reflection from the outer camera housing. The dark lines in
the sky are a product of the imaging.
(Viking 1 Lander, P-17045)
Larger image ( 69K)
High resolution tiff file (1.2M)
Location & Time Information
Date/Time (UT): 1976-07-20
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 2
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-17045
Other Image ID number: 12A002/000
NSSDC Data Set ID (Photo): 75-075C-06F
NSSDC Data Set ID (CD): N/A
Other ID: N/A
![[NASA Logo]](/logo/nasa_logo.gif)
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
