Oct 1 1976
From The Space Library
The boost given by the Viking Mars missions, now nearing an end, to those concerned with the space program might persuade Congress of the virtues of possible future projects, Science magazine reported. Describing 15 Sept. testimony of Dr. John E. Naugle, acting associate administrator of NASA, before a House subcommittee, the magazine said "some of the juicier projects the agency has in mind for the 1980s" might include a roving-vehicle mission to Mars, shipped aboard a Solar Sailor, "the closest thing the agency has ever proposed to a genuine space ship." The Solar Sailor would be driven by solar pressure-light reflected from the sun, collected by huge lightweight sails-and was referred to as "a reusable interplanetary spacecraft." Other future projects would be a Global Information Services satellite system to combine earth sensing, meteorological and pollution observation, data transmission, and navigation uses, all such information to be available to the public at receiving stations or home terminals; some sort of solar-energy collection system, either on the ground or in space; and moving "a segment of our industrial society into space ... where there is abundant solar energy and an almost inexhaustible vacuum to act as a sink for thermal and chemical pollution." Naugle and other agency spokesmen had noted that such plans were still in the design stage and the agency was not ready to discuss them in detail; however, Science commented, the Viking success might mean that for NASA "perhaps the sky will be the limit, after all." (Science, 1 Oct 76, 39) NASA announced successful static test firing of one of two Space Shuttle main engines for 650 sec at main-stage operating level (50% rated thrust level) at the Natl. Space Technology Laboratories, Bay St. Louis, Miss., under the direction of MSFC. The firing, on 30 Sept., was the longest test firing of an SSME to date. Previous firings had aimed at testing engine-throttling control, engine start and shutdown sequence, and engine power balance. The current series of tests, conducted by personnel of Rockwell Intl.'s Rocketdyne Div., would obtain component- and system-operation data at increasing levels of power. The NSTL test program combined development and acceptance testing; each Shuttle engine would be fired at NSTL before being certified for flight. (NASA Release 76-162)
Three products developed by Lewis Research Center had appeared in a list of the 100 most significant products developed during the year, published by Industrial Research magazine, said the Lewis News. The magazine yearly considers about 1000 entries from industries throughout the U.S., and presents the IR-100 award for the products selected by a panel of nationally known technical judges. The 1976 award brings to 16 the number won by LeRC since it entered the competition 1yr ago. Products cited were: a continuous-production cyclotron target, used in producing radioactive isotopes for diagnostic nuclear medicine; a thickness-measuring radar that could measure lake-ice thickness directly beneath an overflying aircraft, used by the Coast Guard to help extend the shipping season on the Great Lakes; and a ceramic thermal-barrier coating that would increase the life of metal parts by protecting them from very high-temperature erosive and corrosive gases, used to prolong the usefulness of turbine blades ten times beyond that of uncoated blades. (Lewis News, l Oct 76, 1)
1-21 October. No evidence of organic material in the soil of Mars appeared in Viking 2 lander's first experiment results, John Noble Wilford reported in the New York Times. The experiment-heating a soil sample to vaporize any organic molecules-was one of eight scheduled for the lander. Dr. Klaus Biemann of MIT, leader of the organic chemistry experiment, noted that the Viking 1 lander had found no trace of organic compounds either. Biology experiments on both landers had returned data indicating some unexplained activity in the soil samples. Gentry Lee, director of scientific analysis for the Viking project, said neither a biological nor a chemical hypothesis was consistent with all the data. (NYT, 1 Oct 76, D13)
A letter to the NY Times had emphasized that the absence not of carbon but of "the extremely complex molecules of carbon that are characteristic of earth life" was the puzzling factor in the Viking findings at Mars. (NYT, 2 Oct 76, 24)
Project scientists had offered three possible explanations for the negative results of the attempts to identify organic compounds. First, any organic compounds left on `Mars by the solar wind, by meteor fall, or by past fife processes could have been destroyed by agents such as ultraviolet radiation, oxygen, or oxidants such as nitrates or metal oxides acting independently or synergistically; "certainly," the project report published in the Oct. issue of Science said, "continuous exposure to short-wave ultraviolet light in the presence of oxygen will cause rapid chemical decomposition of most organic compounds." Second, organic compounds might exist in Mars soil in amounts too dilute to be detected by the Viking instruments. Third, organic compounds might be forming on Mars and undergoing rapid destruction. The traces of organic molecules seen in a second Viking 2 lander chemistry test could well have resulted from contaminants known to have been in the test chamber before the spacecraft left earth, Dr. Biemann said. (NYT, 2 Oct 76, 28)
The Viking 2 lander pushed at a rock on the surface of Mars but was unable to move it, JPL scientists reported. The shove was preliminary to an attempt to sample soil shielded from solar radiation and more likely to contain organic material. Dr. Louis Kingsland, deputy mission director, announced the lander would be ordered to try again and to turn over a smaller rock if the first choice failed to move. Dr. Priestley Toulmin, director of the inorganic analysis experiments, said the iron-rich topsoil tested by the Viking 2 lander had a striking resemblance to that tested at the Viking 1 site; results of the assay were almost a duplicate of those sent to earth 2 mo ago. The similarity lead scientists to think the soil had been affected by ancient weather conditions that swept over large portions of the planet; however, the results could not show whether the material below the surface was likewise uniform around the planet. (W Star, 6 Oct 76, A-5; NYT, 8 Oct 76, A26)
The third of three Viking 2 antler tests for dead organic matter in the soil of Mars had shown no sign of fossilized life, Dr. Biemann said at JPL. The last test would use soil exposed by turning over a rock on the Mars surface that scientists said might have been undisturbed for as long as a million yr. Dr. Norman H. Horowitz of Caltech, who supervised experiments on both Viking 1 and Viking 2 sites that looked for signs of biological activity, said that the results he had obtained "would be convincing for life on Mars if we had found the dead organic matter." The sample from under the rock would be held for chemical analysis until scientists could examine photographs of the trench where it was dug to make sure the sample was taken from the proper protected place. Another under-rock sample would be dug for biological analysis later, the second Viking 2 test for synthesis of organic matter to be conducted at the Utopia site. (W Post, 12 Oct 76, A-8; NYT, 12 Oct 76, 18)
Meanwhile, the seismology instrument on the Viking 2 lander had recorded no marsquake activity in the 2 wk it had been monitoring the planet's surface, said Dr. Don L. Anderson, seismology team director. The detector, turned up to full sensitivity, could detect a quake as small as a 3 on the Richter scale (enough to cause only slight damage on earth) as far away as 200 km from the lander; Dr. Anderson said it was working well, recording breezes and even picking up vibrations from tape recorders on board the lander. A similar instrument on the Viking 1 lander never was freed from its packaging. (W Star, 15 Oct 76, A-3)
The scoop of soil taken from under a rock on the Mars surface also failed to yield a trace of organic molecules, Dr. Biemann announced. However, mission officials planned to go ahead with biological experiments using a sample from under another rock later in the week; the sample would be tested for signs of life processes-growth, metabolism, and respiration. (C Trib, 21 Oct 76, 4-22)
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