Viking program

The Viking 1 was the first of two spacecraft sent to Mars as part of NASA's Viking program. For a description of the spacecraft, see the Viking program article. ...more on Wikipedia about "Viking 1"

The Viking 2 mission was part of the Viking program to Mars, and consisted of an orbiter and a lander essentially identical to that of the Viking 1 mission. ...more on Wikipedia about "Viking 2"

(Viking biological experiments) The Pyrolytic Release or PR experiment looked for evidence of photosynthesis by incubating Martian soil with light, water, and a carbon-containing atmosphere of either CO or CO2. The carbon-bearing gases were made with carbon-14, a heavy, radioactive isotope of carbon. If there were photosynthetic organisms present, it was believed that they would incorporate some of the carbon as biomass through the process of carbon fixation, just as plants and cyanobacteria on earth do. After several days of incubation, the experiment removed the gasses, baked the remaining soil at 650 °C (1200 °F), and collected the products in a device which counted radioactivity. If any of the C14 had been converted to biomass, it would be vaporized during heating and the radioactivity counter would detect it. ...more on Wikipedia about "Viking biological experiments"

NASA's Viking program consisted of two unmanned space missions to Mars, Viking 1 and Viking 2. Each mission had a satellite designed to photograph the surface of Mars from orbit, and to act as a communication relay for the Viking lander that each mission carried. It was the most expensive and ambitious mission ever sent to Mars. It was highly successful and formed most of the database of information about Mars until the late 1990's and early 2000's. ...more on Wikipedia about "Viking program"

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