On this day in space! Aug. 7, 1980: NASA's Viking 1 Mars orbiter shuts down 4 years into a 90-day mission

太空的这一天!1980 年 8 月 7 日：NASA的维京 1 号火星轨道飞行器在执行 90 天任务 4 年后关闭

On Aug. 7, 1980, NASA's Viking 1 spacecraft ended its epic and historic mission on the Red Planet.

1980年8月7日，NASA的维京1号飞船结束了在这颗红色星球上的史诗般的历史性任务。

Viking 1 was the first spacecraft to successfully land on Mars. It was one of two Viking missions NASA launched in 1975 to go look for evidence of life on Mars. Each of the Viking missions were composed of an orbiter and a lander. Viking 1's orbiter took photos of the Martian surface that helped NASA decide where to drop the lander.

维京1号是第一个成功登陆火星的航天器。这是NASA于1975年发起的两次维京任务之一，目的是寻找火星上生命的证据。每项维京任务都由一个轨道飞行器和一个着陆器组成。维京1号的轨道飞行器拍摄了火星表面的照片，用于帮助美国宇航局决定着陆器的降落位置。

Viking 1: The Historic First Mars Landing in Pictures

维京1号: 历史性的第一次火星登陆图片

After four years of orbiting Mars, the orbiter ran out of attitude-control propellant, so NASA had to shut it down. The lander continued its scientific observations for another three years before it lost contact with NASA in 1983.

在绕火星运行了四年之后，轨道器耗尽了姿态控制推进剂，因此NASA不得不将其关闭。在1983年与NASA失去联系之前，着陆器还进行了三年的科学观测。

NASA's Viking 1 mission is most well-known for making the first truly successful landing on Mars, but the mission was more than just a huge lander. Viking 1 actually consisted of two spacecraft, the Viking 1 Lander and the Viking 1 Orbiter. The two spacecraft rode to Mars together, with the lander separating from the orbiter ahead of its landing on the Red Planet.

NASA的维京1号任务以首次真正成功登陆火星而闻名，但该任务不仅仅只有一个巨大的着陆器。实际上，维京1号由两个航天器组成，维京1号着陆器和维京1号轨道飞行器。这两个航天器一起前往火星，着陆器在降落在火星上之前与轨道飞行器分离。

In fact, NASA sent FOUR Viking spacecraft to Mars in total. The Viking 2 mission also carried both a Lander and Orbiter. But the Viking 1 probes were the first of that wave. The two orbiters were based on NASA's general Mariner 9 spacecraft bus, but more sophisticated. They carried three primary instrument suites: A two-camera imaging system; infrared spectrometer for water vapor mapping; and an infrared radiometer for thermal mapping.

事实上，NASA总共向火星发射了四艘维京飞船。维京2号任务同样配备了着陆器和轨道飞行器。但是维京1号探测器是第一个。这两个轨道器基于NASA的水手9号航天器总线，但更为复杂。他们携带了三个主要的仪器套件: 双摄系统; 用于水蒸气测绘的红外光谱仪; 和用于热测绘的红外辐射计。

The Viking missions were only planned to last 90 days, but both the lander and orbiter lasted years beyond their design lifetime. The Viking 1 Orbiter studied Mars for four years, orbiting the planet 1,488 times before shutting down on orbit 1,489 on Aug. 7, 1980.

维京任务原本计划只持续90天，但着陆器和轨道飞行器都运行了多年，超出了它们被设计出来的使用寿命。维京1号轨道飞行器对火星进行了四年的研究，绕火星运行了1,488次，然后于1980年8月7日在1489号轨道上关闭。

The Viking 1 and Viking 2 Orbiters captured a combined 52,663 high-resolution photos of Mars, mapping about 97% of its surface with a resolution of about 984 feet (300 meters). They also snapped photos of Mars' two moons, Phobos and Deimos, in great detail, far surpassing what NASA achieved with the Mariner 9 Mars orbiter in 1971.

维京1号和维京2号的轨道飞行器捕获了火星的共计52663张高分辨率照片，以约984英尺 (300米) 的分辨率映射了其表面的约97%。他们还非常详细地拍摄了火星的两个卫星Phobos和Deimos的照片，取得了远远超过了NASA的水手9号火星轨道飞行器于1971年获得的成就。

Want more space history? Check out our full On This Day In Space Story archive and watch our On This Day In Space videos on YouTube.

想要了解更多的太空历史？查看"On This Day In Space Story"的全部内容，并在YouTube上观看"On This Day In Space"的视频。