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On this day in space! Aug. 7, 1980: NASA's Viking 1 Mars orbiter shuts down 4 years into a 90-day mission
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Click for next articleOn Aug. 7, 1980, NASA's Viking 1 spacecraft ended its epic and historic mission on the Red Planet.
Image 1 of 2 A photo of NASA's Viking 1 Mars orbiter with its Mars lander attached in a landing capsule.
(Image credit: NASA) This NASA graphic shows the different parts of the Viking 1 Mars Orbiter.
Viking 1 actually consisted of two spacecraft, the Viking 1 Lander and the Viking 1 Orbiter.
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.