Thomas Mutch Memorial Station

Orbital image of the Thomas Mutch Memorial Station in western Chryse Planitia as viewed by the HiRISE instrument onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter in Dec 2006.

The Thomas Mutch Memorial Station is the site of the Viking 1 lander that remains in western Chryse Planitia since its touchdown on July 20, 1976.

The site is named after Thomas Mutch (1931-1980) an American geologist and planetary scientist. He was head of the Viking photography team who had the first glimpse at the images being relayed to Earth from Mars from Viking 1.

"This is just an incredible scene. It looks safe and very interesting." - Thomas Mutch on reviewing the first images from Mars.

A Viking lander model at the Smithsonian Institution has a plaque beside it commemorating the naming of the Thomas Mutch Memorial Station in 1982, and it is intended that the plaque will be relocated to the Chryse Planitia landing site when possible.

Further reading

• The Thomas A. Mutch lecture series at Brown University.
• A short biography.