| NASA Center: |
Headquarters |
|---|
| Image # : |
76-H-624 |
|---|
| Date : |
07/23/1976
|
|---|
|
Title
First Picture of Mars
Full Description
Sand dunes and large rocks are revealed in this panoramic image of
Mars, the first photograph taken by Viking 1's Camera 1 on July 23,
1976.
The horizon is approximately 3 kilometers (2 miles) away. The left and
right thirds of the picture are the same area that were photographed
on July 20 (Sol 0) by camera 2 and provide stereo coverage. The middle
third reveals a part of the Martian Surface not seen on the July 20th
panorama. The late afternoon sun is high in the sky over the left side
of the picture. The support struts of the S-band high-gain antenna
extends to the top of the picture.
The American flags are located on the two RTG (Radioisotope
Thermoeletric Generator) wind screens. In the middle third of the
picture the rocky surface is covered by thick deposits of wind-blown
material, forming numerous dunes. At the center of the picture on the
horizon are two low hills which may be part of the rim of the distant
crater. Two very large rocks are visible in the middle ground; the
nearer one is 3 meters (10 feet) in diameter and is 8 meters (25
feets) from the spacecraft.
A cloud layer is visible halfway between the horizon and the top of the
picture. The meterology boom is located right of center. Behind it, the
"White Mesa" is visible, which could be seen on the far left side of
the Sol 0 Camera 2 panorama. In the nearer ground are numerous rocks
about 10cm (4 inches) across, with horse-shoe shaped scour marks on
their upwind side and wind tails in their lee. The fine grained
material in the front of them contains small pits formed by impact of
material kicked out by the lander's descent rocket engines.
Keywords
Mars Sand Dunes Viking 1 Viking Lander
Subject Category
Planet-Mars, Viking-Pathfinder-Sojourner,
Reference Numbers
- Center:
HQ
- Center Number:
76-H-624
- GRIN DataBase Number:
GPN-2000-001699
Source Information
- Creator/Photographer: NASA
- Original Source: DIGITAL
| Resolution | Format | Width
(Pixels) | Height
(Pixels) | Size
(KBytes) |
Thumbnail |
.jpg |
89 |
18 |
4 |
Small |
.jpg |
631 |
131 |
56 |
Medium |
.jpg |
1478 |
307 |
222 |
Large |
.jpg |
2955 |
613 |
668 |
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Updated October 31, 2002
• History Questions: NASA History Office
• Responsible NASA Official: Steve Garber
• Author: Michael Hahn. Editor: Dwayne A. Day
• Curator & Technical Questions: Erin Needham
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