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| | Exploring Mars: Viking 1 & 2 (Site not responding. Last check: ) |
 | | Hence the first pair of orbiters and landers, Viking 1, were launched on August 20, 1975, followed on September 9 of that year by the second set, dubbed Viking 2. |
 | | June 19, 1976, and the Viking 1 lander separated from the orbiter, and touched down in a moderately cratered, low-lying volcanic plain called Chryse Planitia, the drainage region of a large outflow channel. |
 | | Likewise, Viking 2 separated from its lander on September 3, 1976, and landed 6,460 kilometers (4,014 miles) away in Utopia Planitia, another rock-strewn desert at 47.67 degrees north latitude and 225.74 degrees longitude. |
| www.exploringmars.com /missions/viking (323 words) |
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