The Viking Mission

Carl Sagan was behind Viking development right?

The followup to Viking, Mars Observer was an expensive failure at close to 1B in cost.

Man, you have a real knack for capturing the enthusiasm and respect for oft forgotten space program history. I've never heard this much time devoted to Viking before, and I think you've done it justice.

What was the saying at NASA during this period, "make it small, make it fast, and make it cheap."

Wonderful documentary about the early robotic mission to Mars. The Viking mission has always been very interesting to me, perhaps because it pre-dates the post Y2K missions to the Red Planet. And no doubt every one of these missions is amazing and miraculous, but the Viking, in a way, was really chartering new territory, figuratively and literally. It offered our first close-ups of the planet I believe. And one also has to consider that this was all achieved with 1970s tech. When we do finally see these rovers again, I wonder if they'll be able to access and finally download the collected information. Can those hard-drives or whatever storage mechanism that were used survive probably what will be 5 or 6 decades in that harsh Martian environment? And interesting observation about Viking proving NASA's scientific competence, being sandwiched in between the Apollo and Shuttle programs. I never really looked at it that way, but I can see that. And it seems we are in this in-between period now waiting for the Artemis program to do the next amazing things and bring humans back to the Moon and beyond. And of course we owe a great deal from what we've learned from the ISS and Hubble. But, I and many others feel that we need to reach farther. And some even think our species' survival depends on it. Thanks again for bringing this story to life, providing valuable information and insights, and tying it all together in an enjoyable way. You must put a whole lot of work into these and it shows. Bravo!

The start wars bgm is weirdly appropriate.

You have the same spirit of those brave pioneers my film maker friend. Go boldly

Love it! I did a current events report on the Viking Lander Mission to Mars in the 3rd grade!

To be honest I was born in the 50's and was kinda bummed when we saw that Mars was dead. But you have to wonder, what if we had found people? What would have happened then? ha,ha

Excellent channel!

Love these videos!

Small suggestion: is there's a way for enabling the auto-generated subtitles? They usually work well enough to be useful, specially for people like me (with a poorly self-taught English). Thanks!

Viking work 6 years 1 rover on mars rip viking

I find myself wondering if the choice of music from Star Wars is because Mars is the god of war.

An interesting video but I would prefer the background music to be a bit less dominant. It's overpowering at times, such as around the 25 minute mark, making it difficult to hear the dialogue. Other than that distraction, I found this enjoyable & informative.

My understanding is that JPL built the orbiters and "flew" the mission itself, and that Martin Marietta built the landers. But didn't NASA Langley also have a role in Viking? Wasn't it they who were awarded the contract at first, or something like that? Pretty sure I've got something mixed up because Google doesn't seem to agree with me. Haha. Anyway, love your work!

And now, some Mars Mission Content to accompany some work spent on The Final Cuff!! So excited! I spent the afternoon making my son's birthday cake; a sea turtle. So tired now, but so accomplished.

Thank you, again and always, JT. Your Documentaries are the perfect way to wind down and rest before we hit the island near SpaceX to look at turtles and hang out by the ocean.

Shocking that this is the first time I've really watched this one the whole way through. I dont know why. But, now that I have, I had to giggle at the use of the "Force Theme" from Tatooine's Sunset by JWilliams. Intentional? Coincidence? It made me smile when I realized it

Excellent summary of the Viking program. I just wish you had shown the actual first photo from the surface, which was a stunning image of the landing footpad on the ground.
The color image shown during that part of the story is quite beautiful, but it was not the first photo.

Sigma documentaries 🤌🏽 about our existence on this floating rock called the Earth. Subtitles would help reach a much wider audience (ready to gobble up this epic documentary) and also better understanding of space… Looking forward to more of such high quality research with possibly the best upscaled visuals, most of which was originally shot on film over 50+ years ago.

I would watch an alternate history of how we go to Mars and the issues along the way :)

Amazing!

Very well written, amazing images! Where do you get all your images?

Like every other person who watches your docs I am impressed and confused as to why your not way bigger. Down to my last doc now and im sad

At least you could MIG weld on mars without any gas bottles :-)

Thank you 🌺⭐️

again very well done. maybee the soundtrack is ab bit strong in releation to the off comment, but that is just a detail.

I have made a playlist of all the documentaries regarding NASA you have made, its good content to relax and fall asleep to.

This documentary is on par if not even better than the one on JPL and the space age playlist !!! And it’s made by one person !!

For unknown reason Mars missions have never held much interest for me - you changed that!

Not gonna lie, it was a bit tough to pay attention you what you were saying once the Star Wars music started playing! Such a great soundtrack, I couldn't ignore it! This is not a criticism. Just having some fun. Beautiful documentary by the way.

Very well done. Bravo

Top job, thank you!

Dude. Star Wars music with the first images from Mars. You sir are a national treasure.

Mars what's on it ???

Imagine, just imagine, IF instead of funding the Vietnam War, Iraq Wars I and II and the Afghanistan War Congress instead funded NASA.
Think about that, especially if you are a voting US citizen.

Brilliant and Wonderful I love all these Documentaries. Each time there is something new to hear and see 🙂🇮🇪☘️💚

The Star Wars theme music is a nice touch

I couldn't create such a quality product even if I had more than a year for that. And then, you Sir, did not only one but a dozen of very well detailed, high level documentaries with spirit and honesty. Watching your works is not only educating, but somehow in general they bring me better mood and more sense to wonder. Thank You!!

Discovered this channel 4 days ago and its already my favorite!! Many thanks 👍👍👍

Is it you, the creator of this channel, the host voice in these videos?

Another terrific video. Lots of science detail and a great understanding of the process fuels these presentations. Thank you so much. Cheers

Haven’t watched a bad video on this channel yet. Well done again bro

Great series 😊 i like itvery much😊 good job

I subscribed after watching a couple of your enjoyable homemade documentaries. Thanks, keep going if you can please.
P.S.: not keen on hearing or seeing Carl Sagan, not my period of time or cultural point of reference. I understand it's different for those who have these points of reference, but I guess for all others the guy is a bit unessential and maybe outright annoying to look at.

HIDDEN GEM! HIDDEN GEM!!!

I think I've watched all your documentaries now. Some more than once. Please get these on a website and DVD, downloadable copies! Posters and all, just absolutely fantastic

Carl Sagan is missed.