Historical Moments
There are many historic moments in a mission such as Viking, and each one holds significance to different individuals. If we look at the missions in terms of events or milestones that profoundly change historical direction by way of an action or discovery for the entire mission such as pivotal decisions, innovations, or events that changed individuals lives, then we see the missions evolve in a manner that reflects the personal as well as technical developments that begin to paint the picture for us of what a mission really is and how it affects the future. In this type of reflection, what is significant to one person may not be the same for others, but is nonetheless part of the chain of impact that effects and builds the ripples in the ‘Genealogy of Influence’.
To reflect the significance of all these moments we share just a few recognitions of Viking.
Images courtesy from the scrapbook of Len Clark
The moments reflected here are highlights from the content, and will be added to over time.
Viking Reflections
These pages will share unedited stories and memories submitted by contributors to Viking, from conversations, interviews, and submissions by email and web. This area is distinct from the documented engineering and science milestones, and is not fact checked unless we are presented with conflicting information. Individuals may well have different perspectives on the same events, and even different facts and information that may have influenced events. Therefor we respectfully defer to those individuals memories. If there is another perspective or a conflicting memory, we welcome additional information though we do not change reflections without the permission of the quoted individual. We do however remain in contact with the contributors and may request clarifications if presented with conflicting information. Please keep in mind that even in a single meeting, each party has different information coming in that may or may not be known by other attendees, as well as influence on decisions that are made outside meeting spaces. This is common in all industries and can be challenging to document, therefor we present these different perspectives without judgement or representation other than that of the individual quoted.
June 19th, 1976 – Viking I Enters Orbit around Mars and begins sending images
Without the Orbiters, Viking would not have succeeded. Learn details of this critical element of the mission.
July 20, 1976 – “Touchdown” Viking scores successful landing on Mars.
Vikings and others share their memories of Viking I landing and the first images from the surface of Mars.
Viking Gatherings
Fall of 2014 was a busy season, meeting with multiple groups of Vikings from the earliest days of the Viking Program Office formation in 1969, and prior. These individuals were the visionaries of Viking, from many disciplines and expertise, these individuals brought their expertise from other missions including Lunar Orbiter, Apollo, Echo Balloon, Titan and more.
Colorado 2015
Image courtesy of Tom Nelson and Forge Aeronautics (Artist Charles Bennett)
April’s gathering of Vikings was a mix of Martin Marietta engineers, scientists, computing hardware and software, testing, and R&D groups, Interns, and the University of Washington. With this diverse group of individuals we learned about new disciplines of Viking. The interviews that followed have provided us insight into these areas that will be shared in our oral history videos that are currently in production.
Contact us if you would like to support the oral history production with funding, in kind, or skilled support.
Virginia 2015
July 20th was celebrated in 2014 and 2015 by the Langley Vikings in collaboration with The Viking Mars Mission Education & Preservation Project. To hear about upcoming VIking 40th celebrations contact us The Viking Mars Missions Education & Preservation Project 501(C)3.
We love to hear perspectives from you. Feel free to share what is significant to you about Viking by sending an email to info@thevikingpreservationproject.org and include “Historical Moments” in the header.