Virtual Viking, Images and animations of the Viking landing sites Options

[Phil Stooke]

In the past we've had some good Viking images here. Soon - all too soon - we will not have Phoenix any more, but despair not! Now we can re-live Viking by playing with old images. They can be searched by sol at the PDS.

As an example, I've made a composite of the very last Surface Sampler activities at either Viking site. This is work done on Viking 2 sol 957 and imaged on sol 957 and 959. (someone can animate it if they like!)

We see two separate trenching activities at the same place, and a soil dump (bottom) and a conical soil pile made by the second dump (middle). (more obvious in an animation, I just can't make one on this machine).

Phil

[Phil Stooke]

Here's another digging sequence from Viking 2. First, a view before anything happens. Then two views on sol 471, before and after a rock called Snow White was moved. The before image (left) also shows a disturbance just below the sampler arm, suggesting an arm touchdown on the surface some time between sols 454 and 471 (possibly on sol 471 just before the image was taken - but I can't find any documentation of it). The last image shows that the dark scrape made on sol 471 as the arm was retracted has been enlarged. This was the XRFS sample no. 12, but it failed to collect a proper sample.

Phil



EDIT - the touchdown in the second image was made just before the image was taken. The arm touched the surface, was raised up, then extended to push the rock. As it was retracted it scuffed the surface to leave a scrape mark seen in the third image. The XRFS trench was dug later, but the arm struck a buried rock and did not penetrate enough to collect a sample.

Phil