As I get excited to see The Martian, I should share the latest Martian addition to the space museum at work: the only complete biological test instrument from the Viking program, the first Mars lander in 1976.
From the auction house:
“Viking Program Biological Instrument S/N 104
The only flight ready unit on Earth (Smithsonian’s S/N103 is incomplete and not flight ready—S/N105 and 106 are on Mars).
The top of the unit houses the stainless steel ‘flower’ receptacle, which would be opened via a pneumatic bolt to receive Martian soil samples deposited by the robotic scoop on the Viking. After receiving the sample, it could be heated to different temperatures and passed through a column into a lower chamber where the sample would be distributed into one of three experiments. All parts are present and connected as they were when this unit was readied for a Mars mission. Purchased directly from NASA Langley, the headquarters for the Viking biological research group.
Two Viking landers carried three types of biological experiments to the Martian surface in the late 1970s to look for any evidence of life on the planet. As the two landers were identical, the same three experiments were carried out in different locations. Despite the successful completion of all the experiments, no traces of any organic compounds were found on the surface, and the general scientific community declared that Viking’s biological tests were inconclusive. However, in 2012, the data from the LR Experiment was re-analyzed and some scientists believe it may have indeed detected life. With two other units left on the Martian surface, this is the only flight ready unit remaining on our planet.”
I first heard of the perchlorate discovery and reanalysis of the Viking program from Scott Hubbard, the Mars Czar. Here are some summaries from PopSci and Viking Experiment May Have Found Life’s Building Blocks on Mars After All.
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