Mars: Looking For Viking
Credit:
Mars Global Surveyor Project,
NASA
On July 20, 1976, the Viking 1 lander
touched down on the Martian Chryse Planitia.
Its exact landing site is
somewhere in the white rectangle above.
Unfortunately,
this wide angle Mars Global Surveyor image taken on April 12
reveals a substantial dust storm in the area with light colored plumes
apparently blowing toward the upper right of the picture.
Attempts to find
the first spacecraft to land on Mars in the corresponding
high resolution narrow
field images have not been successful due in part to the increased
atmospheric haze.
The region shown here is about 100 miles across.