073-terminal-descent-dixon –A few miles above Mars, Viking's engines fire to slow its descent (dated concept of spacecraft) ; Viewed from an elevated perspective looking downward, the spacecraft has its radar altimeter and high-gain dish antenna deployed as its retrorockets fire cone-shaped exhaust plumes to decelerate. Far below, the alien topography of Mars unfolds, characterized by golden, sunlit fields of shifting sand dunes interspersed with dark, rocky crags and ancient eroded geological formations. gouache on illustration board, 1975
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