March 4,1997
Viking Lander 1
77-H-112
77-HC-62
P-18641Viking digs a deep hole on Mars -- This 110 degree color panorama of the Viking 1 Landing area was taken February 17, 1977 to document deep-trenching activities that took plance February 12 and 14, 1977. The area viewed extends from north to northeast of the Lander. The trench, to the right of the meteorology boom, is being dug to obtain samples from as far as 30 centimeters (12 inches) below the surface.
Some significant changes can be seen in this picture, compared with earlier pictures of the landing area: the sky is much brighter than it was in the days just after landing last July. That indicates that the amount of dust suspended in the atmosphere has increased markedly, as more scattered light is now reaching the surface; hence the shadows (of the meteorology boom and the spacecraft itself) are no longer dark. Finally, the amount of reddish dust on the spacecraft has increased as a result of sampling activity: fine dust can be seen on the leg support and the radioisotope thermoelectric generator cover...
-from NASA Press Release March 4, 1977
The samples taken from the surface of Mars were placed into the inorganic chemical
and biology instruments to determine the chemistry of the soil and possibility
of life forms on Mars.
Find out what they determined.