September 3, 1976 –
The unmanned spacecraft Viking 2, the second mission to Mars, landed at Utopia Planitia on the planet and begins transmitting pictures and soil analyses, on this date.
The lander houses instruments to examine the physical and magnetic properties of the soil, analyze the atmosphere and weather patterns of Mars, and to seek out evidence of the presence of life, be it past or present. It took 16,000 pictures in 1,281 days before its batteries died.
And so it goes
The Haus of Dcaligari 