Viking 1 landed on Mars only 12 years later. Interesting that a paper about exploring the possibility of a computerized machine on Mars is written a scant 12 years before an actual landing of a fairly complex lander. Life between, say, 1960 and 1980 must have felt at a breakneck pace.

Viking 1 lander's abilities:

https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/viking1landata.html