Astronomy Picture of the Day
Discover the cosmos!
Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is
featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional
astronomer.
July 21, 1995
The Search for Life on Mars
Picture Credit: NASA,Viking Project,
Explanation:
Although images of Mars taken from space revealed the planet to
have a barren and cratered surface, scientists did not give up
the search for martian life.
In 1976
NASA's
Viking project
succeeded in landing two robot probes on the surface of
Mars. These landers were able to carry out sophisticated
chemical experiments
to look for signs of microscopic life in the martian soil. However, the
experiments failed to produce any convincing evidence for life on Mars.
Cameras onboard the
Viking Landers also returned spectacular photos of the rocky martian
landscape, like the one above, which showed no sign of
martian animal or plant life.
For more information about the picture see
The NSSDC Mars Photo Gallery.
The exploration of Mars is chronicled by the
Centre For Mars Exploration.
Tomorrow's picture:
The Face on Mars
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Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry
Bonnell (USRA)
NASA Technical Rep.:
Jay Norris.
Specific rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA
at
NASA/
GSFC
&:
Michigan Tech. U.