Viking Mars landers (1976)
Two Viking landers touched down on Mars and ran the first life-detection experiments on another planet. The results were read as negative, with no convincing biological signal.
Public and scientific interest in Mars biology cooled for decades.
Pushed planetary scientists toward places where liquid water persists, under ice rather than on barren surfaces.
The ocean worlds program is the direct answer to Viking's lesson: look for liquid water, not just surface conditions.
