On Aug. 20, 1975, Viking 1 was launched by a Titan/Centaur rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The Viking 1 orbiter began its orbit around the red planet in mid-1976. The Lander, powered by 2 SNAP-19 RTGs, operated for more than six years on the surface, and performed the first Martian soil sample using its robotic arm and a special biological laboratory. MORE ›