Fifty years ago, on this day, NASA’s Viking 1 probe, after successfully landing on Mars, captured the first image in history of the planet’s surface, an image that is considered humanity’s first direct view of the surface of another planet.
This image was taken a few minutes after the probe landed and was provided to scientists by special cameras on the 7.3-kilogram Viking 1, after being sent to the orbiter and then to Earth.
This historic achievement paved the way for subsequent Mars exploration missions and new discoveries about the planet, becoming one of the most important events in human space history.
