From The Hindu Archives, July 21, 1976: The American unmanned Viking spaceprobe lander touched its three slender aluminium legs down on Mars to-day after an 11-month 800 million-kilometre voyage from earth, and sent back two “unbelievably” clear photographs showing hills and small rocks.

On July 20, 1976, the Viking 1 lander, an unmanned U.S. planetary probe, became the first spacecraft to successfully land on the surface of Mars.

De eerste landers die op Mars naar microbisch leven zochten in het Marszand vonden niets, maar inmiddels wordt er getwijfeld aan de conclusies van toen, zegt planeetwetenschapper…