Landing Site
Targeting Diacria
Selection Process
Step-by-Step Results
Top Six Sites
Previous Landings
Site Terminology
Sources
Landing Site
Previous Landing Sites
Viking 1Get an image of the landing site from the Planetary Data System Imaging Node, NASA
(22.3°N, 48°W)
The Viking 1 landing site was in a level plain north of the martian equator near the mouth of a large flash-flood channel. The yellowish, rocky, moderately cratered terrain was also characterized by occasional small sand drifts. The area most closely resembled rocky deserts on Earth. The dunes of Mars, however, were found to form from very-fine grained material, capable of floating in the atmosphere, as opposed to the larger grains of Earth sand.
Viking 2
Get an image of the landing site from the Planetary Data System Imaging Node, NASA
(48°N, 225.6°W)
Viking 2 landed almost on the opposite side of the planet from Viking One. The Viking Two site was amazingly crater-free compared that of Viking One, yet ejecta still littered the ground from distant impacts (there was a 90 kilometer impact crater located 170 kilometers to the west). An X-ray fluorescent spectrometer showed the composition at this landing site to be rich in iron, silicon, and sulfur, which was what was found at the Viking 1 site.
Pathfinder
Get an image of the landing site from the Planetary Data System Imaging Node, NASA.
(19.3°N, 33.5°W)
Landing in Southern Chryse Planitia, the Pathfinder Mission was located at the mouth of the large channel Ares Vallis. This is an interesting choice, since the lander's goal was to find evidence of the large flood that formed the channel. Some of the rocks close to the lander were stacked together, leaning towards the direction of the flood, while broad linear depressions also crossed the site in the same direction. The site was more rocky than the Viking sites and covered with an aeolian film (partial dust cover).
