Photos: 50 Years Since Viking 1 Landed on Mars

NASA Viking 1’s meteorology instrument stands aloft, on an extended boom, seen against the rocky and sandy surface of Mars on Sol 730. Small trenches visible in the foreground are left over from soil samples gathered by Viking 1’s surface sampler. Lowell Georgia / Corbis / Getty Clarence E. Bunnell sets up a model of the Mars Viking spacecraft in June of 1967, during its development phase. Science Photo Library / Reuters Viking spacecraft test, 1973. Scientists examine an aeroshell used to…