On Mars (eBook)

Exploration of the Red Planet, 1958-1978--The NASA History

Edward Clinton Ezell, Linda Neuman Ezell (Autoren)

eBook Download: EPUB

2013
560 Seiten
Dover Publications (Verlag)
978-0-486-14102-2 (ISBN)

Infos

NASA's official history chronicles the start of our explorations of our planetary neighbor. It recounts cooperation among government, industry, and academia, and it features dozens of photos from Viking cameras.

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Although it was only designed for a ninety-day surface mission, the Viking 1 lander ultimately transmitted science messages to Earth for seven years. This authoritative history chronicles the remarkable achievements of the Viking program during its first three decades. Commissioned by NASA, it recounts the events surrounding the first planetary landing on Earth's closest neighbor and the first on-site search for evidence of extraterrestrial life. It also portrays a human drama in which thousands of professionals from government, industry, and academia joined together to accomplish the seemingly impossible.This history begins with a survey of the qualities that make the surface and atmosphere of Mars prime targets for scientific investigation. A retrospective of NASA's Mariner program follows, detailing the series of robotic interplanetary probes that led to the initiation of the Viking program in 1968. The authors trace the ensuing technological developments, including the first lander vehicles and orbiter. They also profile the cooperation of managerial, technical, and scientific teams during the mission's data-gathering and analysis phases. The final chapters outline the scientific results of the Viking investigations, examine some of the unresolved questions, and consider possible future explorations. Dozens of photos taken by Viking cameras illuminate the text.

Inhalt

INTRODUCTION TO THE DOVER EDITIONFOREWORDINTRODUCTIONWHY MARS?THE CART BEFORE THE HORSE: MARINER SPACECRAFT AND LAUNCH VEHICLESTHE SEARCH FOR MARTIAN LIFE BEGINS: 1959-1965VOYAGER: PERILS OF ADVANCED PLANNING, 1960-1967REORGANIZATION AND THE CREATION OF VIKINGVIKING ORBITER AND ITS MARINER INHERITANCEVIKING LANDER: CREATING THE SCIENCE TEAMSVIKING LANDER: BUILDING A COMPLEX SPACECRAFTSAFE HAVENS: SELECTING LANDING SITES FOR VIKINGSITE CERTIFICATION—AND LANDINGON MARSEPILOGUEAPPENDIXESBIBLIOGRAPHIC ESSAYERRATASOURCE NOTESINDEXAUTHORSLIST OF NASA PHOTOGRAPH NUMBERS

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 19.2.2013
• Reihe/Serie: Dover Books on Astronomy
• Reihe/Serie: Dover Books on Astronomy
• Einführung: Paul Dickson
• Sprache: englisch
• Maße: 170 x 170 mm
• Gewicht: 907 g
• Themenwelt: Naturwissenschaften ► Physik / Astronomie ► Astronomie / Astrophysik
• Themenwelt: Naturwissenschaften ► Physik / Astronomie ► Thermodynamik
• Schlagworte: Astronomy • Mars • Nasa • space • Space race
• ISBN-10: 0-486-14102-0 / 0486141020
• ISBN-13: 978-0-486-14102-2 / 9780486141022