by Richard S.
In the 1970s, Martin Marietta designed,
built and tested the Viking landers. These state-of-the-art engineering efforts
would prove to be the most ambitious and successful attempt at landing on the
surface of Mars. The data gathered from the Viking experiments would become the
foundation of knowledge about the Martian surface through the early 2000s. It
also moved the Denver plant from the world of heavy launch vehicles to the new
business of space vehicle designs.
