Word: chryse
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Viking Project Manager James S. Martin Jr. sounded plaintive last week, there was good reason. After studying photographs and radar scans of Viking's first alternative landing site on Mars' Chryse Planitia, the Plains of Chryse, he scrubbed a landing scheduled for July 17 and started studying a new site for a touchdown that could not take place until next week at the earliest. The postponement, following last month's decision to cancel Viking's scheduled July 4 landing, raised concern among scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mission Control Center; it further reduced...
...Bicentennial spectacular, it was meant to be out of this world: a July 4 touchdown on Mars by Viking 1's robot lander to begin the search for life on the red planet. But true to its name, Mars was being belligerent. The first landing site in the Chryse region appeared so hazardous on careful photographic analysis that Viking scientists concluded late last week that a birthday landing was out. That part of the American celebration would come somewhat later...
...neared its destination a fortnight ago, gathering speed as the pull of Martian gravity increased, Viking took increasingly detailed pictures of Mars. They showed no evidence of the swirling sandstorms that had obscured the surface as Mariner 9 approached in 1971, and the proposed Viking landing site in Chryse was clearly visible. Even more significant to the scientists, the Martian atmosphere showed discernible traces of vapor-and bright patches of ice were visible in several craters. This seemed to be good evidence of the presence, in greater abundance than expected, of the substance essential to life as man knows...
...further studies of the second Chryse area satisfy scientists that it is safe for landing, controllers will feed the trajectory of the automated descent into the lander's computers and give the craft a final checkout. Then, on instructions from the scientists, the lander, encased in a protective aeroshell, will be detached from the orbiter. About ten minutes later, two rocket engines in the aeroshell will begin firing, slowing the lander to bring it out of orbit and into a descent path. Some 150 miles from the surface, traveling at more than 10,000 m.p.h., Viking will encounter...
Last week, from his Roman apartment, tall, balding Piero Gargallo was laying plans for another full-scale expedition to Chryse and its surroundings. Says he excitedly: "The entire Aegean and Mediterranean are one vast undersea museum...