1978: NOAA announces gender-neutral hurricane naming system
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The first spacecraft to successfully land on Mars, Viking 1 was part of a two-part mission to investigate the Red Planet and search for signs of life. It launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida on Aug. 20, 1975, and landed July 20, 1976. The spacecraft consisted of both an orbiter and a lander designed to take high-resolution images, and study the Martian surface and atmosphere. Operating on Mars’ Chryse Planitia for more than six years, Viking 1 performed the first Martian soil sample using its robotic arm and a special biological laboratory. While it found no traces of life, Viking 1 did help better characterize Mars as a cold planet with volcanic soil, a thin, dry carbon dioxide atmosphere and striking evidence for ancient river beds and vast flooding.
(NASA)
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