Word: martian
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...orbiter lost its "lock" on the star Vega and began to roll, breaking its contact with mission controllers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. But even as engineers worked feverishly to correct the problem with the orbiter, the lander was performing perfectly, coasting through the thin Martian atmosphere to a landing only 32 seconds behind schedule. "It's a very interesting thing," commented Viking Project Manager James Martin. "The lander doesn't seem to need...
Earthquakes, floods and fugitive diseases are, at any rate, random evidence that the earth itself is mysteriously and sometimes wildly alive. That somehow added to the metaphysical fascination of watching the Americans' Viking lander scratch around in the rusty Martian soil to see if that world, too, had been visited by the secret force...
Nearly two hours later, Viking signaled that a xenon lamp, which simulates Martian sunlight in one of the biology experiments, had turned on. This confirmed that the arm had delivered soil to the laboratory and that the biology experiments had started. The first experiment-a search for evidence of the life process called photosynthesis-was under way. The photosynthesis experiment, plus the two that showed the unexpectedly early results, will take twelve days to complete. Furthermore, the tests will have to be repeated before Viking biologists can draw any firm conclusions about the existence of life in the particular soil...
...showed that the soil sample contains calcium, silicon, titanium, aluminum, iron and the iron oxide responsible for the reddish hue of Mars. But Viking's arm may have failed to make delivery to still another miniature laboratory, an organic chemistry analyzer designed to look for evidence of past Martian life. After two attempts, telemetry showed that soil had apparently not reached the interior...
...Martian life is discovered, Project Scientist Gerald Soffen speculates, it will probably be quite different from anything found on earth. Martian organisms are likely to be microscopic in size. They would also have to be capable of extracting life-giving moisture from the planet's arid soil and atmosphere. Soffen believes they might do this by means of some sort of biological pump or natural siphon. "Martian critters have had billions of years to adapt," he explains. Somewhere in the process of evolution they must have had to face-and overcome-the need for water. "So what they developed...