The Environs of Viking 2 Lander
Abstract
Forty-six days after Viking 1 landed, Viking 2 landed in Utopia Planitia, about 6500 kilometers away from the landing site of Viking 1. Images show that in the immediate vicinity of the Viking 2 landing site the surface is covered with rocks, some of which are partially buried, and fine-grained materials. The surface sampler, the lander cameras, engineering sensors, and some data from the other lander experiments were used to investigate the properties of the surface. Lander 2 has a more homogeneous surface, more coarse-grained material, an extensive crust, small rocks or clods which seem to be difficult to collect, and more extensive erosion by the retro-engine exhaust gases than lander 1. A report on the physical properties of the martian surface based on data obtained through sol 58 on Viking 2 and a brief description of activities on Viking 1 after sol 36 are given.
Additional Information
© 1976 American Association for the Advancement of Science. Received 15 November 1976. We acknowledge the continuing aid and support given to the physical properties investigation team by the surface sampler team. The lander imaging team kindly furnished the pictures (more than 40) used in this report. We also thank P. Duffy for his assistance as the physical properties intern for the month of September. We thank L. Crafton for typing the manuscript several times and for attending to many administrative matters. We thank Dr. D. W. Collinson for his review of the manuscript and discussions of the physics of the soil properties of Mars. Dr. S. Liebes, Jr., provided the mensuration data for the rock pushes and nudges. We thank Dr. R. Goldstein for his support during sol 0 for VL1 and VL2 and throughout the mission. This work was supported by NASA contract NAS1-12705 to the University of Utah Research Institute, NASA order L-9714 to the U.S. Geological Survey, and NASA contract NAS1-10534 to TRW Systems, Inc.Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 62126
- DOI
- 10.1126/science.194.4271.1309
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20151116-131234343
- NAS1-12705
- NASA
- L-9714
- NASA
- NAS1-10534
- NASA
- Created
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2015-11-18Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2021-11-10Created from EPrint's last_modified field