Labels: text | screenshot OCR: The Viking I mission on Mars VIKING 1 AND 2 LANDER EQUIPEMENT The mission of the Viking 1 lander lasted 45 sols. (A sol is a Martian day, equal to 24 hours and 37 minutes.) July 20, 1976 was Sol 0. Twenty-five seconds after landing, camera number 2, located in leg number 2, went into operation and photographed the Martian surface around leg number 3. Then five minutes and 32 seconds after landing, this camera obtained a panoramic image sweeping 300 degrees along a horizontal arc with a vertical angle of 60 degrees. On July 21 (Sol 1), two cameras on the lander are in operation. The arm designed to collect samples is tested. Seventeen movements are ordered. On the thirteenth order, the arm blocks: a locking pin does not detach. On July 25 (Sol 5), the procedure to correct the arm malfunction is implemented. The arm pivots, extends, and the locking pin falls way. (The pin can be seen on the ground in a photo transmitted at 7:10 pm.) On July 28 (Sol 8), Viking 1 extends its arm to the left and digs the first trench, 17 centimeters long, 6.3 centimeters wide, and 5 centimeters deep. Samples of the Martian soil are then taken to be analyzed by the XRFS, the GCMS, and the life detectors. MARS BETAT
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