Government1976

Viking labeled-release experiment gives a positive reading on Mars

When: 30 Jul 1976
Sources: 2 public sources

A model of the Viking lander, whose labeled-release experiment gave a positive reading in 1976 Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The labeled-release experiment on NASA's Viking 1 lander returned a positive reading for gas released from nutrient-dosed Martian soil. NASA concluded it reflected soil chemistry, not life, after no organics were found; its designer Gilbert Levin long argued it detected life.

Sources

OfficialBiology (GEX/LR/PR), Viking 1 Lander, NSSDCA ID 1975-075C-03 (opens in a new tab)NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive
FirsthandI'm Convinced We Found Evidence of Life on Mars in the 1970s (Gilbert V. Levin) (opens in a new tab)Scientific American / 2019-10-10

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Where it fits

Earlier in GovernmentViking 1 photographs the 'Face on Mars'25 Jul 1976 Later in GovernmentMorocco sightings reported in U.S. embassy cable19 Sep 1976

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