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NASA Langley to Host Viking Seminar, Media Invited

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NASA

Jul 27, 2015
MEDIA ADVISORY15-042

NASA’s Viking 1 successfully landed on the Martian surface 39 years ago making it the first visitor to the red planet. In celebration of the project’s recent anniversary, NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, will host a Viking seminar on Thursday, July 30, from 1 to 3 p.m.

Media interested in attending the seminar should contact Mike Finneran at 757-864-6110 or michael.p.finneran@nasa.gov no later than 5 p.m. EDT Wednesday, July 29.

Viking 2 lander on surface of Mars, September 24, 1976
NASA’s Viking Mission to Mars was composed of two spacecraft, Viking 1 and Viking 2, each consisting of an orbiter and a lander. Viking 1 was launched on August 20, 1975, and landed on Mars on July 20, 1976. Viking 2 was launched September 9, 1975, and landed on Mars on September 3, 1976. This image was taken by the Viking 2 lander on September 24, 1976. NASA’s Viking Project was the first U.S. mission to land a spacecraft safely on Mars and return images of the surface. The Viking 2 lander is now known as the Gerald Soffen Memorial Station in honor of Viking project scientist Gerald A. Soffen. Credits: NASA

John Newcomb, who served on the Viking management team will discuss the project’s evolution and contributions to the community including many of the management principles and early technology development that contributed to the lander’s success. Following Newcomb’s talk, a few of his former colleagues will participate in a panel discussion and share their first-hand Viking experiences and discoveries.

Panel members will include:

  • Norman Crabill, Viking mission design manager
  • Gus Guastaferro,  Viking deputy project manager  
  • Paul Siemers, Viking lander aerothermodynamics engineer
  • Joel Levine, former NASA Langley scientist

Imagery and data taken during the Viking project continues to contribute to NASA’s goal of sending humans to an asteroid by 2025 and Mars in the 2030s.

For more information about Langley, visit:

www.nasa.gov/langley

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Sasha Congiu
NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va.
757-864-5473
sasha.r.congiu@nasa.gov
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