The extreme foreground of the Viking 2 site imaged directly by the cameras, with the mirror mosaic placed in approximately the correct location.
At right in that image is a larger area of the surface showing the surface eroded by the landing thrusters. Mosaics like this are much easier to make today with modern image processing software than in the Viking period when they were constructed from printed […]
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Two mosaics of small images taken by using mirrors mounted on the Viking 2 arm housing. At left part of the lander including a temperature sensor is shown. At right part of the surface shows small erosion pits from landing thrusters.
If you look back to Viking 1:
https://mastodon.social/@PhilStooke/115376798213914717
you will see a bit about the mirrors mounted on the arm housing on each Viking lander. The mirrors reflected an image of the surface just under the lander. By moving the […]
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The Viking 2 sampling area as it was at the end of the mission, in panorama geometry - a cylindrical projection.
And the same content in panorama geometry, as before.
There is not much more to say about Viking 2 but I do have one last treat for tomorrow.
#mars #viking2
A map of the Viking 2 sampling area at the end of the mission.
After that the arm was parked and not used again. This map shows the sample area at the end of the mission.
#mars #maps #viking2
Continuing from yesterday's post, those physical properties activities did various things. I don't know the purpose of Phys. prop 4, but it dug up fine-grained material and one buried rock. PP 6 at the bottom was supposed to measure surface strength but the result was lost somehow, not […]
The sol 522 touchdown was done to... actually I don't know why it was done. The sol 559 touchdown was an attempt to chip Mr Mole - but it didn't, indicating that it was fairly hard. Nearby on sol 595 was a Physical Properties touchdown - the scoop was pressed down to test the bearing strength of […]
six images make up three before and after pairs. The first pair show a backhoe touchdown looking for magnetic particles in the soil which might stick to a magnet. The second pair show another touchdown - I don't know what it was trying to do. The third pair show a touchdown on a rock in an attempt to chip it (a measure of hardness). No damage to the rock was seen. Also in that image was a physical properties experiment to measure temperatures over a day-night cycle.
We are coming to the end of Viking 2 activities with the arm. This set of before and after image pairs shows rather small events. First, on sol 502, a backhoe touchdown. The backhoe was a plate protruding under the scoop, which could be pulled through the […]
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A panoramic image of the sample area for Viking 2 after 500 sols.
This is the same content as in the map just posted but shown as a panorama.
#mars #viking2
A map of the Viking 2 sampling area after sol 500. The base image is a panorama projected into a map geometry (based on a line-drawn map in a USGS paper). On it are shown the various sampling trenches and other features including the first conical pile.
This map shows the Viking 2 sample field after 500 sols. Digs at the near end of Deep Hole which we have already seen happened after sol 500 so they are not shown. I quite like being able to see the sampling area evolving like this.
#mars #maps #viking2
Seven images show activities at the VIking 2 site on Mars. At the top, 3 frames show the rock Snow White before it was moved, then the arm moving Snow White and scraping the surface as it does so. Finally a sample was taken from the scuffed area for analysis. In the middle row 2 images show a conical pile of soil placed on top of the rock Centaur. The soil was dug out of the Physical Properties 2 trench from the previous post). Finally a 3rd conical pile was made to the left of that same rock. These soil piles were imaged at intervals over a long period to look for changes.
Here are some more activities at the Viking 2 site on Mars. At top, we see the arm moving a rock called Snow White, scraping the surface in the process. Then a sample is taken from the scuffed area for analysis. Next we see a conical pile of soil formed on […]
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Physical properties could cover a lot of things including bearing strength of the soil and sizes of particles. The next Phys Prop dig on sol 595 was dumped nearby to make a conical pile of soil. It would be imaged at intervals over several years to monitor wind erosion. The last 2 frames show […]
Six images show Viking 2 activities. The first 4 are in the same region at the right end of the sample area. A sample was dug for analysis and then 2 more for 'physical properties' studies - the first to look for coarse fragments (little rocks) in the otherwise fine-grained soil, the second to build a comical pile of fine material nearby. It would be observed over several years to monitor wind erosion. The bottom two frames, before and after, show another physical properties sample dug to make a conical pile we will see later.
Another set of Viking 2 arm activities. Because I collect them spatially they are only chronological within a spatial set... if you see what I mean. The first 4 here are at the extreme right end of the sampling area. The scoop backhoe touched the surface and […]
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Four images show Viking 2 sampling activities starting a bit more than one Earth year after landing. First a 'deep hole' was dug, and a sample taken for analysis. a month later the hole was dig deeper and another sample collected. About 100 sols after each of those activities, more samples were taken from the near end of the big pile of tailings created by the digging.
Arm work with Viking 2 resumed after the winter slow period. Here we see a 'deep hole' being dug, as with Viking 1. The area is the same as in the previous two arm action images a couple of days ago. Multiple strokes of the arm were used to move material […]
[Original post on mastodon.social]
During the period we have just covered, winter for Viking 2, the lander took its first pictures of frost on the surface. We don't see many pictures like this because most landers have been at lower latitudes. Phoenix is the obvious exception, but Viking 2 did it first. These links show 2 images […]
A panoramic view of the Viking 2 sampling area showing the various activities (not very many) completed between sols 100 and 300.
And the same content represented as a panorama.
We will get down to some serious work tomorrow.
#mars #viking2
A map showing changes in the Viking 2 sampling area between its sols 100 and 300. There were not many actions since the last map - just a few trenches dug for samples.
As suggested yesterday, there was not a lot of action for Viking 2 between sols 100 and 300, so this map does not have many changes since the last one. A few sample trenches, basically. Don't worry, that is going to change soon.
#mars #maps #viking2
... direct to Earth communication from the lander. Now it could only communicate via an orbiter. The planet was also throwing dust storms into the story. On sols 165 and 269 dust effects were detected, each time lasting for weeks. The nuclear powered landers were not affected as much as the […]
Two images showing before and after views of the collection of a sample for biological analysis on Viking 2 sol 145. Small bits of debris fell over a wide area in this view after digging.
Today we just have two images, a before and after - so just one event. This was the collection of a sample called Biology 4 for analysis in the suite of biology instruments. Viking 2 didn't do very much for quite a while now. There were problems with the arm […]
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The last 2 images show another XRFS sample collected near Mr. Badger. In all these cases the fine material was delivered to the instrument in the lander for analysis and coarser material was dropped to form a 'rock pile' near the new trenches. There were really very few rocks but a little […]
Seven images show activities at the Viking 2 site on Mars after conjunction. The first 5 show samples collected in the same area near Notch rock (one image before these actions, and then 4 actions). In each case fine material went for analysis and any coarser fragments were dropped near the trench to form a 'rock pile'. There were very few fragments, but they gradually accumulated there. The last 2 images (before and after) show another sample collected near Mr. Badger rock.
... but there was no concurrent wind data with this one. However, it occurred at a time of day with little wind. This is not certain but stands as the only likely seismic event detected on Mars until the InSight mission decades later.
After conjunction the […]
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Viking 2's primary mission ended on sol 60, followed by a blackout period as Mars passed near or behind the Sun and communication was curtailed. The lander continued to collect weather and seismic data, and it was transmitted to Earth after conjunction (after sol 103). A seismic event may have […]
The Viking 2 sampling area shown in a panoramic view, with all the same features from the map posted just before this.
Here is the same content in the geometry of a panorama. The purge area shown in yesterday's post is near the sol 21 purge area on the map.
#mars #viking2
A map of the sampling area for VIking 2 showing the changes to the surface made during the primary mission. Sampling trenches, touchdown points and a debris pile (purge pile in this case) are marked on a photomap of the surface.
Here is the sampling area map after the primary mission ended. We will see the map change considerably in future. One thing I did not do is actually move on the map the rocks which were moved. I should have. Oddly, I see now that I did reduce the height of […]
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... is from late in the mission, showing a few more small changes. There is one big change, existing rocks covered with dust. I labelled it with a query - wind-blown dust? - but it could have been a big purge.
That is the end of Viking 2's primary mission. Tomorrow we will see what the map […]
The 3 bottom images in the last post show an area close to the lander, too close for the arm to dig, so perfect for dropping debris from the scoop (purging). The first image is the very first picture taken by Viking 2, beginning while some dust was still in the air from the landing (making those […]
Seven frames make up this view of Viking 2 activities. At the top are 4 images taken near the end of the primary mission, showing trenches being dug to study physical properties and soil composition. The 3 frames below show an area near the lander (too close for the arm to reach properly) where the scoop was emptied (purged) several times. Only small changes are seen, a tiny pebble here, a little clod of soil there. The scoop had to be emptied before each sample collection so the new sample was not contaminated with material dug earlier at a different place.
This set of images takes us through the last few activities of Viking 2's primary mission (just before conjunction), and shows an area where several scoop purges were done, at different times during the mission. The top 4 frames show an area near ICL rock […]
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The idea with these moves is to take soil from a place where it has been protected from ultraviolet radiation and maybe cosmic rays, which would destroy organic molecules. The protected samples might contain organics or even life. Notice the purge pile in the bottom middle image - the scoop was […]
Three sequences of images make up a 9 frame set showing activities of Viking 2 on Mars. The top three images show activities at a rock called Mr. Badger. It is moved and a sample taken from under it. The next 2 images show an attempt to move Bonneville, but it barely moves and then falls back. The final 4 frames show a rock called Notch. We see it before the move, after a small test move, then after a bigger move (pushing it away from the lander as all these moves do). Finally a biology sample is collected where it had been.
Now Viking 2 started to get a bit rough with the rocks around it. In the top sequence we see the rock Mr. Badger moved and then a sample taken from underneath it (which action moved the rock again). In the second sequence Bonneville is moved slightly, but it […]
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GCMS is the Gas Chromatograph Mass Spectrometer instrument looking for organics (carbon compounds) in the soil. They didn't find any. Then they took another sample for the x-ray fluorescence instrument. Finally we see a failed attempt to move a rock called ICL - Initial Computer Load. If […]
eight panels show step by step activities at the Viking 2 landing site early in the mission. They show several samples being scooped up for analysis by the lander instruments, carefully dug out of gaps between the many rocks. The last panel shows a failed attempt to move a rock to sample underneath it.
These images show more early activities by Viking 2. First, two more digs in the same area as last time, another biology sample and one for the x-ray instrument for mineral composition analysis. Next, four panels show activities at Bonneville Salt Flats. The […]
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