[amsat-bb] 1976-07-20: Viking 1 Lands On Mars

[B J]

On 7/20/16, Dario Riquelme Zornow <dario at riquelme.cl> wrote:
> Thanks Bernhard.
> Hello everybody, I'm Dario from Chile, 12th Zone. ce3drz
>
> I was 8 when Viking 1 touch down on mars,  and can remember that.

I was working at an oil refinery as a summer engineering student
between my junior and senior undergraduate years.  I couldn't wait to
get home to watch the news about the landing.

Today i
> shown this clip https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZjCfNvx9m8 to my chilndres
> and some of their friends.
> was an amazing reaction to see movies "so old"

It was indeed an amazing achievement.  It was the first time that a
spacecraft successfully touched down on Mars, which, even now, is a
difficult task.  I believe, though, that the Soviets had landed one
first, but it failed after a few minutes.

Almost immediately, Viking 1 was responsible for textbooks having to
be rewritten.  I remember the first pictures when they appeared in the
news and how incredible they were.  Even the experts were amazed as
they couldn't believe that the martian sky had a reddish colour.

Talk about watching history being made.

>
> thanks again !

You're welcome.

73s

Bernhard VA6BMJ @ DO33FL