Operations Research, Systems Engineering and Industrial Engineering Commons^™

The Biology Instrument For The Viking Mars Mission, Frederick S. Brown, H.E. Adelson, M.C. Chapman, O.W. Clausen, A.J. Cole, J.T. Cragin, R.J. Day, C.H. Debenham, R.E. Fortney, R.I. Gilje, D.W. Harvey, J.L. Kropp, S.J. Loer, J.L. Logan, Jr., W.D. Potter, G.T. Rosniak

Systems Engineering Faculty Works

Two Viking spacecraft have successfully soft landed on the surface of Mars. Each carries, along with other scientific instruments, one biology laboratory with three different experiments designed to search for evidence of living microorganisms in material sampled from the Martian surface. This 15.5-kg biology instrument which occupies a volume of almost 28.3 dm3 is the first to carry out an in situ search for extraterrestrial life on a planet. The three experiments are called the pyrolytic release, labeled release, and gas exchange. The pyrolytic release experiment has the capability to measure the fixation of carbon dioxide or carbon monoxide into …