The Explorers' Club, № MCLXXVIII

Operation AXIOM: The Space Age—The 50th Anniversary of Project Viking, Part VI
3 September 1976: The Viking 2 lander landed at the Utopia Planitia & began to transmit photographs immediately; a robotic arm scooped up regolith samples, which were subjected to the same quartet of biological experiments for signs of microbial life as on the Viking 1 lander; Viking 2 operated for 1,316 days (1,281 sols), until its radioisotope thermoelectric generators were exhausted on 12 April 1980.

Bonus! Space Age Song o' the Day: Viking 2
Seu Jorge, "Life on Mars?" from The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou: Soundtrack from the Motion Picture (Space Cadet Mike Papa Whiskey)

The Wayback Machine Tour of Project Viking
"The Explorers' Club," № MCVI: Viking 1 Launch (Part I)
"The Explorers' Club," № MCX: Viking 2 Launch (Part II)
"The Explorers' Club," № MCLXII: Viking 1 Orbiter (Part III)
"The Explorers' Club," № MCLXIX: Viking 1 Lander (Part IV)
"The Explorers' Club," № MCLXXII: Viking 2 Orbiter (Part V)

Semper exploro.

The Explorers' Club, № MCLXXII

Operation AXIOM: The Space Age—The 50th Anniversary of Project Viking, Part V
7 August 1976: The Viking 2 probe entered orbit of Mars & began taking photographs of candidate landing sites for the Viking 2 lander; the Viking 2 orbiter approached the moon Deimos in 1977, before its propulsion system sprang a leak of its attitude control fuel, cutting short the mission; the Viking 2 orbiter transmitted almost 16,000 photographs of Mars for approximately 703 orbits until 25 July 1978.

Bonus! Space Age Song o' the Day: Viking 2
The Misfits, "Mars Attacks" from American Psycho (Space Cadet Mike Papa Whiskey)

Semper exploro.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: America 250

The United States Semiquincentennial (1776-2026)
The New American Brass Band, "Hail, Columbia" from The Civil War: Original Soundtrack Recording (Mike Patriot Whiskey)

The Explorers' Club, № MCLXIX

Operation AXIOM: The Space Age—The 50th Anniversary of Project Viking, Part IV
20 July 1976: The Viking 1 lander landed at the Chryse Planitia & began to transmit photographs within 25 seconds; a robotic arm scooped up soil samples, which were subjected to four biological experiments for signs of microbial life; atmospheric & seismographic data was collected; the lander operated for 2,307 days (2,245 sols), until a faulty command ended contact on 11 November 1982.

Bonus! Space Age Song o' the Day: Viking 1
David Bowie, "Life on Mars?" from Hunky Dory (Space Cadet Mike Papa Whiskey)

Semper exploro.

The Explorers' Club, № MCLXII

Operation AXIOM: The Space Age—The 50th Anniversary of Project Viking, Part III
19 June 1976: The Viking 1 probe entered orbit of Mars; the Viking 1 lander was scheduled to land on 4 July 1976, the Bicentennial, but imagery showed the initial landing site was too rough & the search for a new site delayed the landing; the Viking 1 orbiter approached Phobos in 1977, & relayed data from the lander & transmitted over 57,000 photographs of Mars for 1,485 orbits until 17 August 1980.

Bonus! Space Age Song o' the Day: Viking 1
The Aquabats!, "Martian Girl!" from The Fury of The Aquabats! (Space Cadet Mike Papa Whiskey)

Semper exploro.

The Explorers' Club, № MCX

Operation AXIOM: The Space Age—The 50th Anniversary of Project Viking, Part II
9 September 1975: Viking 2 probe lifted off from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station atop a Titan IIIE (A.K.A. Titan III-Centaur) rocket, bound for Mars; Viking 2 consisted of an orbiter, to identify Martian landing sites & photograph the moon Deimos, & a lander, intended to reach the Utopia Planitia region; the Viking 2 orbiter & lander were essentially identical to the Viking 1 orbiter & lander.

Bonus! Space Age Song o' the Day!: Viking 2
The Aquabats!, "Martian Girl!" from The Return of the Aquabats! (Captain Thumbs Up!)

Semper exploro.

The Explorers' Club, № MCVI

Operation AXIOM: The Space Age—The 50th Anniversary of Project Viking, Part I
20 August 1975: The Viking 1 probe lifted off from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station atop a Titan IIIE (A.K.A. Titan III-Centaur) rocket, bound for Mars; Viking 1 consisted of an orbiter, to identify Martian landing sites & photograph the moon Phobos, & a lander, intended to land on 4 July 1976; the Viking 1 orbiter was based on the successful Mariner 9 probe, the first probe to orbit another planet.

Bonus! Space Age Song o' the Day: Viking 1
The Skatalites, "Trip to Mars" from Greetings from Skamania (Space Cadet Mike Papa Whiskey)

Semper exploro.

The Explorers' Club, № MXCVIII

Operation AXIOM: The Space Race—The 60th Anniversary of Mariner-Mars 1964, Part III
14-15 July 1965: The Mariner 4 probe flew by Mars, approaching to within 6,118 miles; it was the first Earth probe to return images of another planet from deep space, returning 22 photographs, covering about 1% of the Martian surface; Mariner 4 shattered the science-fiction speculation of Mars as host to abundant life, revealing a thin atmosphere, no liquid water on the surface, & no magnetic field.

Commentary: Mariner 4 continued to transmit data until October 1965, when an imprecise antenna orientation caused a loss of communication for almost two years. Communication was resumed by September 1967, recording multiple micrometeoroid hits; the probe's attitude-control gas supply was exhausted by 7 December & communication terminated on 21 December 1967.

We had to move up by a week the observance of the sixtieth anniversary of Mariner 4's Martian flyby to avoid a conflict with the fiftieth anniversary of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project.

The Wayback Machine Tour of Mariner-Mars 1964
"The Explorers' Club," № MLV: The 60th Anniversary of Mariner-Mars 1964, Part I (Mariner 3)
"The Explorers' Club," № MLIX: The 60th Anniversary of Mariner-Mars 1964, Part II (Mariner 4)

Semper exploro.

The Explorers' Club, № MLIX

Operation AXIOM: The Space Race—The 60th Anniversary of Mariner-Mars 1964, Part II
28 November 1964: Mariner 4 lifted off from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station atop an Atlas-Agena rocket, bound for a Mars flyby; the probe was identical to Mariner 3, but the rocket featured a new, all-metal payload fairing, after a fairing failure doomed Mariner 3; separation was successful & the solar panels deployed; instruments included a television camera & several radiation detectors.

Semper exploro.

The Explorers' Club, № MLV

Operation AXIOM: The Space Race—The 60th Anniversary of Mariner-Mars 1964, Part I
5 November 1964: Mariner 3 lifted off from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station atop an Atlas-Agena rocket, bound for a Mars flyby; unlike the Ranger-based Mariner 1 & 2 probes, Mariner 3 was based on an all-new bus; the solar panels did not deploy, due to a separation failure of the payload fairing; eight hours after launch, the batteries were exhausted & contact was lost with Mariner 3.

Semper exploro.

The Explorers' Club, № MXVI

Operation AXIOM: The Space Race—The 50th Anniversary of Mars 6 & Mars 7
5 August 1973-12 March 1974: The identical Mars 6 (5 August) & Mars 7 (9 August) landers lifted off from the Kazakh S.S.R.'s Baikonur Cosmodrome atop Proton-K rockets; Mars 6 transmitted degraded data during its descent through the thin Martian atmosphere, but contact was lost prior to a presumed crash landing; Mars 7 had difficulty separating from its cruise stage & missed Mars completely.

Bonus! Space Race Song o' the Day: Mars 6 & Mars 7
Dennis McCarthy, "Out of Control/The Crash" from Star Trek Generations: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Space Cadet Mike Papa Whiskey)

Semper exploro.

The Explorers' Club, № MXV

Operation AXIOM: The Space Race—The 50th Anniversary of Mars 4 & Mars 5
21 July 1973-28 February 1974: The identical Mars 4 (21 July) & Mars 5 (25 July) probes lifted off from the Kazakh S.S.R.'s Baikonur Cosmodrome atop Proton-K rockets; Mars 4 suffered a computer failure (30 July) that left it unable to perform orbital insertion maneuvers; Mars 5 succesfully orbited Mars (12-28 February), though for less time than planned, probably due to micrometeoroid damage.

Bonus! Space Race Song o' the Day: Mars 4 & Mars 5
"Weird Al" Yankovic, "Attack of the Radioactive Hamsters from a Planet Near Mars" from U.H.F.: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Space Cadet Mike Papa Whiskey)

Semper exploro.

The Explorers' Club, № MVI

Operation AXIOM: The Space Age—The 20th Anniversary of Mars Exploration Rover, Part IV
25 January 2004: The Opportunity (M.E.R.-B) landed in the Eagle Crater on the Meridiani Planum, at the Challenger Memorial Station, to begin a 90-sol (a Mars day, 39 minutes 35 seconds longer than an Earth day) mission; Opportunity's 90-sol mission would be extended repeatedly, lasting 5,111 sols (14 years, 47 days); both M.E.R.'s longevity benefited from dust devils cleaning off their solar panels.

Bonus! Space Age Song o' the Day: Opportunity
Seu Jorge, "Life on Mars?" from The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou: Soundtrack from the Motion Picture (Space Cadet Mike Papa Whiskey)

Semper exploro.

The Explorers' Club, № MII

Operation AXIOM: The Space Age—The 20th Anniversary of Mars Exploration Rover, Part III
4 January 2004: The Spirit (Mars Exploration Rover-A) landed in the Gusev Crater, at the Columbia Memorial Station, to begin a 90-sol (a Mars day, approximately 39 minutes 35 seconds longer than an Earth day) mission; due to the inefficiency of parachutes in the thin Martian atmosphere, the landing was cushioned by airbags; Spirit's 90-sol mission would be extended repeatedly, lasting 2,208 sols.

Bonus! Space Age Song o' the Day: Spirit
David Bowie, "Life on Mars?" from Hunky Dory (Space Cadet Mike Papa Whiskey)

Semper exploro.

The Explorers' Club, № CMLXIII

Operation AXIOM: The Space Age—The 20th Anniversary of Mars Exploration Rover, Part II
7 July 2003: The Opportunity (Mars Exploration Rover-B; also known as Mars Exploration Rover-1) lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Base atop a Delta II rocket; high winds had delayed an initial launch attempt on 28 June; the Opportunity (or, "Oppy") & the identical Spirit were were built to study the Martian geology ("areology") for indications of ancient surface water, & instrument calibration.

Bonus! Space Age Song o' the Day: Opportunity
Matamoska!, "I Turned into a Martian" from Skalluminati (Space Cadet Mike Papa Whiskey)

Semper exploro.