St. Louis Science Center: Astronomy Fact Of The Day: September 3, 2021

Press release from St. Louis Science Center:

September 01, 2021

Today in 1976, NASA’s Viking 2 lander successfully landed on the surface of Mars. From its high-inclination orbit, the Viking 2 orbiter was able to closely observe complex Martian polar regions. The Viking 2 mission was launched via a Titan-Centaur rocket in September 1975, and the orbiter was used until July 1978 to capture about 16,000 images of Mars and its satellites.

This press release was produced by St. Louis Science Center. The views expressed here are the author’s own.