(06/29/1973) -- VIKING PROJECT In 1976, NASA will land two automated scientific laboratories on the planet Mars. This pioneering effort to explore in detail the surface of another primary planet in our solar system will be identified by a name that exemplifies the spirit of historic exploration. To accomplish this goal, two spacecraft will be launched from the Kennedy Space Center within a month of another in mid-1975. These spacecraft, each including a lander and an orbiter, will hurtle nearly 460 million miles around the Sun before reaching the red planet. The descent will occur when Mars is about 225 million miles from Earth and nearly on the other side of the Sun. This requires a completely automated de-orbit and landing operation because, at that distance, two-way communication between Mars and Earth takes nearly 45 minutes. Surface science will then commence with principal scientific interest invested in biology, geology and meteorology