Viking 2

Viking 2

Spacecraft· NASAinactive

Viking 2 — NASA's second Mars lander (Utopia Planitia, 1976), searching for signs of life with its biology experiments.

Open in 3D viewSee Viking 2 in the live, interactive 3D map

Key facts

Distance from Sun
1.5 AU
Status
Completed
Launched
1975

Mission & specifications

Mission

Operator
NASA
Launched
September 9, 1975
Status
Completed

Trajectory

Distance from the Sun
1.5 AU
Distance from Earth
1.9 AU
Distance from Mars
2,497,611 km

Mission

Viking 2 was the twin of Viking 1, and together they formed NASA's first sustained assault on the question of life on Mars. Launched on 9 September 1975, it consisted of an orbiter and a lander. The orbiter reached Mars in August 1976, and on 3 September the lander touched down in Utopia Planitia, a flat northern plain on the far side of the planet from its sibling. Like Viking 1, it carried a compact biology laboratory that scooped up soil and tested it for the chemical signatures of living organisms. The results were tantalising but ambiguous: some experiments produced reactions that mimicked life, yet the instruments found no organic molecules in the soil, and most scientists concluded that exotic, highly reactive surface chemistry — not biology — was responsible. The debate has never fully died. Viking 2's cameras captured another striking sight: a thin layer of water-ice frost that formed on the rocks and soil during the Martian winter, the first frost ever photographed on another planet. The lander operated until April 1980, far beyond its planned life, while its orbiter mapped Mars from above. Between them, the two Vikings defined Mars science for a generation.

  1. 1975Launch toward MarsLaunch

    A Titan IIIE-Centaur sends the Viking 2 orbiter and lander on their way.

  2. 1976Mars orbit insertionArrival

    The orbiter arrives and scouts the northern plains for a safe landing site.

  3. 1976Landing in Utopia PlanitiaLanding

    Touches down on the far side of Mars from Viking 1.

  4. 1976Biology experimentsMilestone

    The life-detection tests return the same ambiguous results as Viking 1; no organics are found.

  5. 1980Last transmissionMission end

    Falls silent after years of work, having photographed the first frost on the Martian surface.

Images

The Viking 2 lander on Utopia Planitia, Mars (self-portrait)
NASA/JPL (public domain) · Wikimedia Commons
Water Ice Clouds over the Northern Plains
NASA/JPL/Arizona State University · NASA Image Library
Rampart Crater
NASA/JPL/Arizona State University · NASA Image Library
Fifty Years of Mars Imaging: from Mariner 4 to HiRISE
NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona · NASA Image Library

Images from open archives · credit shown per image