Viking-Mars Encounter

Viking/Mars Encounter, 48 x 48. This painting depicts the Viking
spacecraft the instant after separation of the lander from the
orbiter. The lander is several meters aft and still in the orbiter's
shadow. At the time of separation, Viking was over a point 37.5
degrees south and 126.8 degrees west of the prime Martian meridian.
The Martian terminator is l.6 degrees east of that point, and the
lander settled on the surface is just beyond the lim of the planet.
The orbiter faces the sun, the high gain antenna faces 24 degrees
toward the viewer in the direction of Earth, and the craft is rotated
to point its side at Canopus, which lay behind Mars at the time of
separation. If you stand ten feet from the canvas, you will see Viking
as it appeared at separation from 300 meters, and Mars as it appeared
from Viking at 18,400 kilometers.

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