Word: planitia
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Dates: during 1976-1976
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This week scientists are involved in a new effort to find the answer to this question. Two weeks ago Viking 2 dropped silently out of space and bumped to a landing on Mars' Utopia Planitia (plains of Utopia), some 4,600 miles east-northeast and almost halfway around the planet from Viking 1 (see map). The landing gave scientists some anxious moments. Shortly after separation from its lander, the Viking 2 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...
...first men walked on the moon-this dream became a reality. "Touchdown! We have touchdown!" shouted Project Manager James S. Martin Jr. as he watched the consoles at Pasadena's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Only 17 sec. behind schedule, the lander was safely down on Mars' Chryse Planitia (golden plains...
...when Viking lifted its gaze and surveyed the landscape that man could really imagine standing on Chryse Planitia. "Terrific!" exclaimed the Viking scientists. "Fantastic!" There before them in a spectacular 300° panoramic view was a rock-strewn-and apparently lifeless-plain reminiscent of the deserts of Arizona and northern Mexico. Clearly visible were bright patches of sand and dunes, some low ridges, what seemed to be an eroded crater and a landscape littered with rocks. Some of the more distinctively shaped rocks were promptly given names like "Midas muffler" and "Dutch shoe" by scientists. On the horizon, about...
Between now and mid-November, when Mars passes behind the sun and communications with earth are cut off, Viking's two cameras will take regular photographs of Chryse Planitia, observing what takes place throughout each Sol, or Martian day, of 24 hr. 37 min. Other instruments, meanwhile, will sample the contents of the Martian atmosphere, register the planet's temperatures, which range from a low of -200° during darkness to a high of +50° during the day, and record wind velocities, barometric pressures and humidity. A seismograph, placed aboard the Viking to detect Marsquakes and volcanic...
...Viking scientists wanted detailed photographs of the area before making a final decision. To get them, controllers at J.P.L. last week "tweaked" Viking's thrusters to bring the periapsis (low point) of its orbit directly over the new landing site. If the photographs confirm that Chryse Planitia is relatively smooth, Viking will land on July...