Historical mystery: what happened to the Viking arm that was used 50 years ago?

One of the problems was that the opening hours were changing. Originally, the museum was supposed to open on July 4th as a birthday gift to the nation, but it seemed to compete with other bicentennial celebrations, and the museum was ready to open.

Then there was the Mars landing.

Viking 1 was supposed to land on July 4, but when it arrived on its certification ramp two weeks earlier, images of the first landing site showed that its location was too difficult to ensure a successful landing. NASA delayed the landing until July 20 while a suitable landing site was searched.

So Collins was already dealing with the inevitable change of date and time.

“But believe it or not, all the electrons did little things and the ribbon jumped and the house opened. It was great,” he said.

The Viking test case, on view here in the Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall, was donated to the National Air and Space Museum in 1979 by NASA.

Credit: Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

The doors opened, and people got their first look at the Wright brothers’ 1903 Flyer, Charles Lindbergh. The spirit of St. Louis, and NASA space capsules, including the Columbia command module that Collins flew to the moon in 1969.

Of course, NASA and the Smithsonian weren’t going to let a disturbing signal ruin the day. There was always a backup plan.

“We were ready to cheat,” said Don Lopez, who was a member of the museum’s original staff and later deputy director before his death in 2008. “We had a guy behind him with a button to push if it didn’t happen.”

A secret 50 years in the making

With the ribbon cutting going well, reports today indicate that NASA has picked up a sample and taken it with them.

So what happened to that arm?

Inside the museum on July 1, 1976, Viking represented is a permanent photo that was in the US arena at the 1975 Paris Air Show and was later featured in “Life in the Universe?” pictures.