May 31 1977
From The Space Library
JPL announced that its controllers had turned off the biology instrument on Viking lander 2 May 28 and that on lander 1 on May 30. Lander 1 had started biology investigations July 28, 1976, and lander 2 on Sept. 11, both operating continuously since that time, depleting their high-pressure helium, nutrients, and other consumables. They had carried out all the tests originally scheduled and "several that hadn't been planned," the announcement said. Both of the landers would continue to operate except for the biology and organic analysis instruments, and both of the orbiters had continued to operate normally. Biologists in laboratories across the U.S. were trying various combinations of soil and chemicals to duplicate results from the biology instruments on the Mars landers. (JPL anno May 31/77)
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