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Mass: 576 kilograms 1,270 pounds
Science instruments: Biology instrument, gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer, X-ray fluorescence spectrometer, seismometer, meteorology instrument, stereo color cameras, physical and magnetic properties of soil, aerodynamic properties and composition of Martian atmosphere with changes in altitude -
The two Landers had the same payload
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The Viking 1 arrived to the designated area above the martian atmosphere
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The Viking 1 Lander lands on the western slope of Chryse Planitia
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The Viking 1 took the very first colored image of the Martian surface
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The Viking 2 Orbiter arrived to the orbit shortly after Viking 1 approximately 4,600 miles from the other lander
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The Viking 2 lander touched down at the Utopia Planitia
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NASA had anticipated that the orbiter and lander would only last for 90 days, but in reality it lasted much longer.
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The Viking 2 was also estimated to only last for 90 days, but like the Viking 1, it lasted much longer than anticipated.
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The Viking 2 only lasted about half the amount of time that the Viking 1 did. This was mostly due to "variations in sunlight" which caused the power source of the Viking 2 to decay much quicker.
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Though it stopped fully functioning in 1978, the Viking 2 continued to transmit data to NASA research centers on Earth for about two more years.
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The Viking 1 lasted about four years and completed a total of 1,489 orbits of Mars
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The last transmission from the Viking 1, much like the Viking 2, came two years after it stopped fully functioning.
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The Spirit and Opportunity rovers, inspired by the Viking missions, made major headway to finding life on Mars when they discovered a region that had a wet and possibly habitable environment many years ago
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The Phoenix Mars Lander finds that Martian soil that was examined by the Viking 1 lander in 1980 may have contained carbon based chemical building blocks of life
