Viking program
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The Viking program consisted of a pair of identical American space probes, Viking 1 and Viking 2 both launched in 1975, and landed on Mars in 1976. The mission effort began in 1968 and was managed by
Artist impression of a Viking orbiter releasing a lander descent capsule
Mars image mosaic from the Viking 1 orbiter
Proof test article of the Viking lander
Astronomer Carl Sagan stands next to a model of a Viking lander to provide scale
Carl Sagan
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Carl Edward Sagan was an American astronomer, planetary scientist and science communicator. Initially an assistant professor at Harvard, Sagan later moved to Cornell, where he was the David Duncan Pro
Viking program
…the cap of the bioshield was jettisoned after the Centaur upper stage powered the Viking orbiter/lander combination out of Earth orbit. Astronomer Carl Sagan helped to choose landing sites for both Viking probes. Each lander arrived at Mars attached to the orbiter. The assembly orbited Mars many times before…
Sagan in 1980
Sagan (age 16) in the 1951 Rahway High School yearbook
Sagan in the University of Chicago's 1954 yearbook