Viking Program - Mission End

Mission End

The craft eventually failed, one by one, as follows:

Craft Arrival date Shut-off date Operational lifetime Cause of failure
Viking 2 orbiter August 7, 1976 July 25, 1978 1-year, 11 months, 18 days Shut down after fuel leak in propulsion system.
Viking 2 lander September 3, 1976 April 11, 1980 3 years, 7 months, 8 days Battery failure.
Viking 1 orbiter June 19, 1976 August 17, 1980 4 years, 1-month, 19 days Shut down after depletion of altitude control fuel.
Viking 1 lander July 20, 1976 November 13, 1982 6 years, 3 months, 22 days Human error during software update caused the lander's antenna to go down, terminating communication.

The whole Viking program was finally shut down on May 21, 1983. To prevent an imminent impact with Mars the orbit of Viking 1 orbiter was raised. Impact and potential contamination on the planet's surface is possible from 2019 onwards.

Read more about this topic:  Viking Program

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