and Mariner IX...
...which rehabilitated Mars as-an-interesting-place-in-its-own-right rather than a blank canvas for fantasies about 'life'. I think the real irony about "Viking" was the follow-up studies that showed just how insensitive its life detection tests were and just how hardy microbes could be. We learnt a lot about life by studying why "Viking" 'failed' to find any.
