The Viking landing sites - Selection and certification
During the past several years the Viking project developed plans to use Viking orbiter instruments and earth-based radar to certify the suitability of the landing sites selected as the safest and most scientifically rewarding using Mariner 9 data. During June and July 1976, the earth-based radar and orbital spacecraft observations of some of the prime and backup sites were completed. The results of these combined observations indicated that the Viking 1 prime landing area in the Chryse region of Mars is geologically varied and possibly more hazardous than expected, and was not certifiable as a site for the Viking 1 landing. Consequently, the site certification effort had to be drastically modified and lengthened to search for a site that might be safe enough to attempt to land. The selected site considered at 47.5 deg W, 22.4 deg N represented a compromise between desirable characteristics observed with visual images and those inferred from earth-based radar. It lies in the Chryse region about 900 kilometers northwest of the original site.