The first unmanned rover to land on Mars was the Viking 1, launched in 1976 by the United States. It was a robotic spacecraft that was sent to explore the planet’s surface and to send back data about the environment. The mission was part of the Viking program, a two-part mission which was designed to explore the surface of Mars and to take samples of the soil and rocks that it encountered.

The Viking 1 rover was a two-part spacecraft; the first part was the Orbiter which was designed to take pictures of the planet from orbit and to send data back to Earth. The second part was the Lander which was designed to land on the surface of Mars. The Lander contained the rover, which was about the size of a small car, and was equipped with cameras, sensors, and instruments to collect data about the surface of Mars and to send it back to Earth.

The Viking 1 rover was the first to land on Mars. It touched down on July 20, 1976, on the planet’s Chryse Planitia region, and sent back the first ever images of the Martian surface. The rover was able to explore a range of terrain and send back data on the environment, including the temperature, pressure, and composition of the soil and atmosphere. It also measured the planet’s gravity and magnetic field and took pictures of the surface.

The Viking 1 rover was a success and it was followed by two other rovers. The Viking 2 rover, which was launched in September 1976, landed on the Utopia Planitia region of Mars and was able to send back data about the planet’s surface. The Sojourner rover, which was launched in July 1997, was the first of a new generation of Mars rovers and was able to explore a wide range of terrain and send back detailed images of the planet’s surface.

The success of the Viking 1 mission and the subsequent rovers that followed it opened up a new era of exploration of the planet Mars. The data that these rovers sent back to Earth has helped scientists to better understand the planet’s environment and has also helped to lay the groundwork for future manned missions to the planet. The success of these rovers has shown that unmanned missions can be successful and can be used to explore other planets in our solar system.