NASA re-examine the Viking 1 & 2 Lander science findings recently. Scientists conducted a new experiment on Mars-like soil and discovered that Viking did indeed discover organic material 30 years ago.
Prompted by a August 2008 discovery of some powerful oxygen-busting compounds called perchlorates at the landing site of the Mars Phoenix probe landing site.
Quote: Scientists repeated a key Viking experiment using perchlorate-enhanced soil from Chile's Atacama Desert, which is considered one of the driest and most Mars-like places on Earth, and found telltale fingerprints of combusted organics -- the same chemicals Viking scientists dismissed as contaminants from Earth.
"Contrary to 30 years of perceived wisdom, Viking did detect organic materials on Mars," planetary scientist Christopher McKay, with NASA's Ames Research Center in California, told Discovery News. "It's like a 30-year-old cold case suddenly solved with new facts." End quote.
For more information, please read the article. Link below.
___
Ref.
1. Discovery.com. "VIKING FOUND ORGANICS ON MARS, EXPERIMENT CONFIRMS" by Irene Klotz. January 4, 2011. (http://news.discovery.com/space/viking-mars-organics-experiment.html).
+033.jpg)
No comments:
Post a Comment