Report From Mars Viking 1 and 2 Operations 1976

8/8/2019 Report From Mars Viking 1 and 2 Operations 1976

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N/\S/\National Aeronautics ar1dSpace AdministratKJnINFORMATION SHEETFGM 77-1 Prepared byFGM/Office of Public AffairsNASA Headquarters

Washington,D.C. 20546

A decade of planning and work came to fruition in 1976with the landing of a robot spacecraft on Mars to conduct adetailed scientific investigation of the planet, includingthe search for life. After an II-month, haIf-a-biIIion-mile

America's Viking 1 made its historic touchdown ona rocky, boulder-strewn Martian plain called Chryse on July20 at 7:53:17 a.m. EDT--just 17 seconds later than flightengineers had predicted

Within minutes after landing, two specially designedcameras on the bug-shaped craft began taking the world'sfirst closeup pictures of the alien land. A miniatureweather station aboard Viking monitored the thin Martian


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devices within the spacecraft's miniaturized biology labora-These instruments were designed to recognize the form

of life most common on Earth--microbes--on the assumptionthat these would be most cornmon on Mars too.

The data that came back from the "life" experimentsThe data indicatedoth delighted and puzzled scientists.

the presence of compounds which were conceivably of biolo-gical origin, but the organic analysis data did not supportthat conclusion. The spacecraft's gas chromatograph-massspectrometer instrument showed no evidence of organic mole-cules--the building blocks of life (as we know it on Earth)How could there be any Earth-like form of life withoutorganic compounds? Scientists do not know. It could bethat there is no life on Mars, but that the planet's chemistryis unlike anything experienced before

A chance to sample a different area of Mars came on3, when a sister ship, Viking 2, touched down at Utopia

nearer to Mars' polar cap thanbout 1,600 km (1,000 mi.


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3In mid-November, transmissions between Earth and the

Viking landers and orbiters was suspended. The motions ofthe planets had reached a point where the Sun was betweenMars and Earth, an alignment known as solar conjunction thatproduces a blackout of Viking-to-Earth communications. Thismarked the end of the primary missions of Vikings 1 and 2,and the beginning of the "extended missions" that will permitscientific observations through an entire Martian year of25 months. A return to full post-conjunction operationsof the spacecraft began in mid-December. Experimentsplanned include taking more photographs of the Martian sur-

monitoring for seismic events, observing the planet'sdaily and seasonable weather changes, and acquiring moresoil samples for biology, organic and inorganic chemistry

In February, Viking 1 orbiter cameras are expectedto take the most detailed pictures yet of Mars' tiny moonPhobos from a distance of 30 miles.

Science SUITlInary. On the basis of the Viking reportsthe following is a reasonable assessment of the planet:


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Despite the antiquity of the surface, the preser-vation of the small craters suggests that wind ero-sion has been very slow.

The floor of the canyon Vallis Marinaris is signi-ficantly younger, suggesting contemporary processes.

The morphology of martian crater ejecta is indica-tive of surface flow rather than ballistic deposi-tion as on the Moon and Mercury

The northern plains is a vast area of polygonalpatterns resembling the "patterned ground" of thethis is mutedt higher latitudes,rctic regions.by a soft mantling.

The rocks in the immediate vicinity of Viking 1lander are numerous and exhibit a great variety of

color, texture, and size, all covered by alayer of fine red dust.


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5Nitrogen and argon and their isotopes have beenmeasured in the atmosphere. The isotopic ratiosare different from those on Earth, implying a dif-ferent atmospheric history and also a significantlydenser initial Mars atmosphere

Atmospheric water vapor varies both with time ofday and location. The summer northern polar regionshave high water concentration in the atmosphere.

Low thermal measurements of the south polar regionssuggest a dynamic condensation of volatiles.

The climate at the landing site is benign andrepetitive during the early summer.

Elemental analysis of the sample at the landingsite suggests a mixed sample of hydrated mineralshigh in iron, and basaltic in nature.


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No complex organic compounds have been detectedThe detec-n Mars in the two samples analyzed.

tion limits are in the region of 10 to 100 partsper billion

The biology experiment is indeterminate but hasyielded some clues to the chemistry of the surface


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VIKING SCIENCE SUMMARY -1.

ORBITER8EXTREMELY VARIED SURFACE -ENORMOUS VOLCANOS, CANYONS

CRA TERED AND SMOOTH AREAS.CONSIDERABLE EVIDENCE OF EARLIER HISTORY OF RUNNING

WATER ON SURFACE..WI DE SPREAD EVIDENCE OF SUBSURFACE PERMAFROST AND POLAR

H2O ICE, SEASONALLY COVERED ~TH CO2 FROST..MUCH WIND EROSION EVIDENT IN MANY REGIONSeA TMOSPHERI C WATER VAPOR MAPPED -VARI ES ACCORDING TO

SEASON, TOPOGRAPHY, TEMPERATURE VERY DRY IN GENERAL,(0 to 100 MICRONSPRECIPITABLE).

.ATMOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE MAPPED -VARJES IN LANDING AREAS(OOto -100C) ON DAY, NIGHT AND SEASONALCYCLE.

ENTRY.IONOSPHERE -DOMINATED BY OXYGEN. SOME CO2"


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VIKING SCI ENCE SUMMARY -2.

LANDER.SURFACE -LANDER 1 -GENTLY ROLLING TERRAIN

LANDER 2 -FLAT.SURFACE PROPERTIES -ROCKY, WITH "DUST'! DEPOSITS, FINE

GRAINED -REDDISH IN COLOR, STRONGER AND SO~~AT DENSERTHAN LUNAR

8WINDEROSIONEVIDENT -ATMOSPHERIC "DUST" GIVES PINKISHCAST TO SKY.

8WINDS GENTLE (9~l/sec) IN VIKING SEASON. DIRECTION VARYSWITH TIME OF DAY AND SEASON. WI LL INCREASE IN WINTER

.TEMPERATURE AT LANDING SITES GENERALLY BELOW FREEZING(AROUND 00 to -8SoC).

.PRESSURE 6-8 mb, +VARIES SEASONALLY -1-2 mb.(95%) SOME2' N2' Ar, AND

TRACE OF ~RYPTON, XENON. NEON. N2 Bl0LOGICALLY IMPORTANT.-SOIL COMPOSED RIMARILY OF Fe,


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VIKING SCIENCE SUMMARY -3.-ORGANIC MATTER HOT FOUND AT PARTS PER BILLION LEVEL.-SOIL VERY REACTIVE WHEN HUMIDIFIED OR WET -HIGHLY

OXIDIZED AND OXIDATIVE. UNLIKE TERRESTRIAL SOILSREACTIVITY PRODUCES MOLECULES SIMILAR TO BIOLOGICALREACTION PRODUCTS

.DIFFICULT TO DISTINGUISH PRESENCEOR ABSENCE OF LIFEFORMS IN SOIL BECAUSE OF ABOVE.

-SURFACE CHEMl STRY SUBJECT OF INTENSIVE STUDY ON EARTHTO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL SIGNAL,IF POSSIBLE.

8LIFE QUESTION REMAINS OPEN.ONE PROBABLE LARGE SEI SMI C EVENT DETECTED IN NO~~ER

I"" DATA RETURN CONTINUES IN EXTENDED MISSION.EXTREMELY PRODUCTIVE DATA FLOW FROM VIKING.


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Report From Mars Viking 1 and 2 Operations 1976

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