The orbiter system of the Viking spacecraft performs the functions of transporting the lander into orbit around Mars, surveying the proposed landing sites, relaying lander data to earth, and conducting independent scientific observations of Mars. The orbiter system is a semiautomatic, solar-powered, triaxially stabilized platform capable of making trajectory corrections and communicating with earth on S-band. Its instruments for visual imaging, detecting water vapor, and thermal mapping are mounted on a separate two-degree-of-freedom scan platform. Radio science is conducted at three frequencies, using the main S-band system, a separate X-band derived from the S-band, and the UHF one-way link with the lander.
The Viking Orbiter and its Mariner inheritance
Technology today for tomorrow; Twelfth Space Congress ; 1975 ; Cocoa Beach, FL
1975-01-01
Miscellaneous
No indication
English
Viking orbiter and its Mariner inheritance
NTRS | 1984
Viking Orbiter stereophotogrammetry
NTRS | 1978
|Viking Orbiter Stereo Imaging Catalog
NTIS | 1982
|Viking orbiter attitude control analysis
NTRS | 1977
|Viking orbiter stereo imaging catalog
NTRS | 1982
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