Viking spacecraft

How can scientists collect experimental evidence about possible life on another planet Sending astronauts to see for themselves is impractical at our current level of technology. Nevertheless, it is possible to search for life on other worlds without sending humans into space. In the late 1970s, NASA s Viking spacecraft lander collected a sample of dirt from Mars, the planet in our solar system most like Earth. The sample showed no signs of life. Nevertheless, speculation continues about Martian life. 

Other applications of inorganic mass spectrometry in planetary sciences were reviewed by de Laeter, including the analysis of the planets Mars (Viking spacecraft mission), Venus (Pioneer mission) and Jupiter (Galileo mission), where small molecules were discovered on the planets, and extraterrestrial materials from comets, Moon and meteorites.32... 

The image of the mass spectrum produced at the output end of the dissector was focused onto the target of the Vidicon Camera via relay optics, as illustrated in Fig. 5. The camera used for the conversion from optical data to electronic display of information was a modified version of the camera system used on the Viking spacecraft. It was capable of integrating the light output from the primary detector for up to two seconds. Fig. 7 depicts the image format at the vidicon. 

Plate 15.VIII The surface of the red planet Mars. A planar area in the northern mid-latitude of Mars. The colour of the surface and the sky is primarily due to the ubiquitous presence of fine, red dust. The horizon is ca. 3 km away from the spacecraft (Viking Lander I) (courtesy NASA, Houston,Texas). 

Global GRS maps of Mars, for (a) silicon, (b) iron, and (c) /Th. Letters represent spacecraft landing sites V1 and V2 Viking, PF Mars Pathfinder, M Merdiani (Opportunity), and G Gusev (Spirit). The line in (b) separates the southern highlands from the northern lowlands. White areas above 50° N and S were not analyzed. 

Sealed cells also have many important military and aerospace applications where absence of maintenance may be important. The battery for the Viking Mars orbiting spacecraft, consisting of 26 sealed 30 Ah cells, is shown in Fig. 6.10. 

Fig. 6.10 Battery for Viking Mars orbiting spacecraft, comprising 26 sealed 30 Ah nickel-cadmium cells, which was placed in Mars orbit in 1976. (By courtesy of Jet Propulsion Laboratory,)...

The Mars Pathfinder probe landed on Mars on July 4,1997. Pathfinder was second in the Discovery series of robotic spacecraft, which the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) began to develop in the mid 1990s. Costing an average of 150 million per project, the Discovery shift to faster, cheaper, less-ambitious probes was prompted by the catastrophic failure in 1993 of the 1-billion Mars Observer mission. Pathfinder was the third spacecraft ever to land successfully on Mars NASA s Viking I and Viking II spacecraft... 

The X-ray fluorescent spectrometer sent with the Viking I spacecraft to Mars shows that the Martian soil contains about 12 to 16% iron, 14 to 15% silicon, 3 to 8% calcium, 2 to 7% aluminum, and one-half to 2% titanium. The gas chromatograph — mass spectrometer on Viking II found no trace of organic compounds. 

With the naked eye, ancient people could discern that the planet Mars is red, just as is the calx of iron ( rust )- Associating Mars—the god of war—with iron—the stuff of weapons, as well as with hlood—is intuitively reasonable. Late twentieth-century business executives wore red power ties to meetings. But in an almost too wonderful confirmation of ancient intuition, the findings of the NASA Viking Mission, which landed two spacecraft on Mars in 1976, indicated a red surface composed of oxides of iron eyeball chemical analysis by the Ancients at over 30 million miles—not bad ... 

Pyrolysis/GC is used extensively in the analysis of polymers, paints, textile fibers, and even whole microorganisms. Certain materials of forensic interest have been characterized by this approach. A unique pyrolysis/GC system was aboard the Viking 1975 Mission spacecraft to investigate the possible occurrence of organic compounds in the martian soil. 

Since the 1960s measurements of X-rays, gamma rays, alpha particles, and neutrons from the Moon, Mars, and Venus have been undertaken successfully with a variety of instruments aboard both U.S. and Russian spacecraft. The two U.S. Viking landers on Mars, for example, carried out X-ray fluorescence measurements of the Martian surface, while the Russian Venera 8, 9, and 10 spacecraft measured the natural radioactivities of potassium, uranium, and thorium at three landing sites on Venus. 

The story whether there is water on Mars or not and if yes, how much, is not completely finished yet. As we have stated, the debate started more than 100 years ago by the observations of the canali which turned out to be artifacts caused by blurring effects in our atmosphere. In 1976 the first unmanned spacecrafts landed on the martian surface (Viking 1 and Viking 2). Mars appeared as a dry, rocky desert with no signs of water. 

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