The Viking 1 mission to Mars is launched from Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla., on a Titan III booster. The spacecraft enters Mars orbit on June 19, 1976, and the lander, which takes soil samples and performs rudimentary analysis on them, soft-lands on July 20, 1976.
One of General Atomics Aeronautical Systems’ prototype Collaborative Combat Aircraft drones crashed shortly after takeoff April 6, and the company has paused its test flights while it investigates the incident.
