Word: soiling
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Speculation that life exists on Mars has decreased this week even though the Viking spacecraft that landed on the planet more than two weeks ago relayed data back to Earth indicating Martian soil samples were emitting large quantities of oxygen...
Richard M. Goody, Mallinckrodt Professor of Planetary Physics, who is chairman of the Space Sciences Board, said yesterday scientists have realized the presence of hydrogen peroxide in small amounts on Mars could explain the high oxygen content of the soil...
...illusion of standing on the Martian plain became even more vivid when scientists produced a color picture that confirmed the appropriateness of Mars' longtime sobriquet of Red Planet. The soil seemed to consist of a fine-grained reddish material interspersed with small blue-black or blue-green patches. Many of the rocks were also coated with a reddish stain, strongly suggesting the presence of iron that had rusted in the presence of atmospheric or waterbound oxygen. Other rocks, blue-green and opalescent, reminded some scientists of copper ore. After correcting the color values on the photograph, scientists decided that...
...Monsters. Once the first lander was safely down on Martian soil-thereby assuring at least partial success of the $1 billion, eight-year-long Viking project-scientists decided that they could afford to be less cautious with Viking 2, which is approaching Mars and scheduled to go into orbit on Aug. 7. Last week scientists were considering setting the second lander down in a rugged northern region that would be more hazardous for landing than Viking 1's site but potentially more interesting to geologists and biologists...
...West Germans almost certainly face problems since their team includes members from West Berlin. The Soviets contend that West Berlin is an independent political entity and must have no ties with West Germany. And what about Israel? The Arabs claim that Israel is illegally occupying Palestinian soil. Would the Soviets invite a team from the P.L.O. and bar the Israelis? Even if only a small part of this scenario developed, what might be the U.S. response...