Viking 2: A Landing on Mars
On September 3, 1976, a spacecraft settled onto a rocky plain on Mars. It had traveled millions of miles from Earth, but its most important work was just beginning. The Viking 2 lander would take pictures, study the Martian weather and soil, and search for possible signs of life.
Two spacecraft, different jobs
Viking 2 was part of a NASA mission that sent two spacecraft to Mars. Each spacecraft carried two main parts: an orbiter and a lander. An orbiter circles a planet, while a lander travels down to its surface.
Viking 1 arrived first. Its lander touched down on Mars in July 1976. The Viking 2 lander followed on September 3, landing at a place called Utopia Planitia. The Viking 2 orbiter stayed above Mars, taking pictures and helping send information from the lander back to Earth. Viking 1 and Viking 2 were separate spacecraft, and their landers explored different locations.
A careful landing
Landing on Mars was risky. The planet’s atmosphere, or layer of gases, is much thinner than Earth’s, but it can still help slow a spacecraft. As the Viking 2 lander entered the atmosphere, a protective shield helped it handle the heat. Then a parachute opened to slow it further. Near the ground, engines fired to help the lander make a gentler touchdown.
- protective:
- Helping keep something safe from harm.
- sampling:
- Taking a small amount of something to examine it.
- nutrients:
- Substances that living things need to grow and stay healthy.
- reaction:
- A change that happens when substances interact.
- detect:
- To find or notice something.
- evidence:
- Facts or observations that help show whether something is true.
- measurements:
- Amounts found by checking the size, temperature, or other features of something.
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Main Idea
Identify the central idea and explain how important details develop it.
Context Clues
Use clues in the passage to work out what words mean. A separate printable Vocabulary worksheet is also available.
Summarize
Select, organize, and restate the most important information without adding opinion.
Purpose
Analyze what the author aims to do and how choices serve audience and purpose.
Structure
Analyze how sections and organizational choices build the text's ideas or effects.
Vocabulary
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Writing Prompts
Use the passage as a springboard for short written responses, from personal reflection to evidence-based arguments.
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Preview questions from this passageShowHide
- 11. What was the main purpose of Viking 2’s work on Mars? Give two examples of what it studied.
- 22. How did the jobs of the Viking 2 orbiter and lander differ?
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About this explanatory article passage for Upper Elementary
“Viking 2: A Landing on Mars” is a explanatory article reading passage about Mars exploration, written for Upper Elementary. It takes about 3 minutes to read (516 words) and comes with an interactive quiz and a printable worksheet with comprehension questions and an answer key.