After describing the history of a Mars exploration program that originated at the beginning of the space age, and detailing the two spacecraft and the two landings, this time we will summarize the scientific discoveries discovered during the period of activity of the Viking spacecraft on Mars
Surface
The surface of Mars is extremely diverse. These are faces that were shaped by winds, floods and the flow of many waters in gullies and rivers that caused weathering, drifting and stratification. The processes of investment and weathering of the surface are particularly prominent. Vast areas are covered with ancient lava flows almost everywhere. The small craters prove that the surface of Mars is relatively ancient and that the recent events on its surface did not change its shape much. The youngest features of the landscape are the large volcanoes and Alice Marineris, at the bottom of which you find sediments and silt material from the collapse of its sides.
At both landing sites the surface is solid, flat and strewn with large rock fragments, from gravel shards to three meter boulders. The thin material between the rocks is of different types and comes from weathering and drift. This fine-grained soil is partly compacted and crusted. It may indicate stratification. The rocks are very different from each other in their shape and textures some of them look as if they are grain thin and have been smoothed by the wind. Others are strewn with bubbles, perhaps of volcanic origin. Others have a variegated appearance while the form of others appears to be late. Sand fields also stand out in the landscape.
Examining the fine material reveals that its main components are iron, calcium, aluminum, iron and sulfur. This material is agitated by the wind and contains fine silicates and oxide grains of minerals. The source of the red color of Mars is probably from iron oxide that wraps the iron grains in the soil in a thin crust. You also find titanium and smaller amounts of rubidium, strontium, zinc and potassium. The most common mineral at the landing site is montmorillonite - iron-rich clay. The chemistry of Mars is more complex than expected.
Two main types of canals have been identified on Mars:
1. Large canals that wind for hundreds of kilometers and are about 10 kilometers wide. They usually start in a hilly area and merge with each other in many valleys. These winding canals may have once been raging rivers formed when a tremendous amount of water suddenly erupted from the belly of the star, splitting its face and the water that floated down the mountain slopes. This great flood occurred at least 100 million years ago and maybe even more. The water continued to flow on the surface for at least tens of millions of years.
2. Relatively small canals tens of kilometers long and narrow, about one kilometer wide. They are twisted, very branched and from a distance look like a tangle of trees. They branch out in flat deserts. It is possible that water from glaciers that thawed flowed in them. Their age is estimated at one billion years.
tectonics
Signs of earthquakes that happened a long time ago in Wallis Marineris. The noises on Mars probably caused huge landslides that destroyed the cliff walls and dropped rocks and soil into the deep canyon system. The ruins of the photographed landslide are very similar to landslides created by noises on Earth. Dr. Harold Mazursky said that "we have some wonderful aerial photographs and ground tests of the huge ruins in Alaska (in 1964 there was a deadly earthquake in Alaska) and they are similar in size and shape to those we saw in Viking's photographs."
Vallis Marineris is a chain of canyons 4,800 km long near the equator that was probably created due to tectonic activity similar to the huge contractions of land masses that caused the separation of the continents on Earth hundreds of millions of years ago. It seems that the ravines in this place widened in the process of landslides that destroyed the cliff walls. Much of the remaining rubble was scattered by the winds, although in most recent landslides large fans of earth and rocks can be seen.
atmosphere
The atmosphere contains 95% 2CO, 2.5% nitrogen and its isotopes, 1.5% argon and its isotopes, smaller amounts of crypto and isotopes, 0.4% oxygen and NO in a higher amount than that observed in chemical processes from the low temperatures measured at the South Pole concluded that the 2CO concentrations here are very active and cause Concentrations of gases not to condense mainly argon, in those parts of the atmosphere above the poles.
The average atmospheric pressure is 7 millibars, relative to the Earth, Mars has a thin atmosphere and optically it is thick. Particles that came from the ground float in it and they give it the pink color. The mapping experiment of the water vapor in the atmosphere showed changes in the water content related to the geographical latitude or daily and seasonal changes. The vertical distribution shows that these vapors are mainly concentrated in and near the ground.
The presence of the kapton and the ridge together with the mighty river channels and the snow domes clearly show that in the past the atmosphere was denser than today. The pressure was greater and the water existed on the surface of Mars in a liquid state.
Meteorology
In the first month of Viking A's stay, the temperature at the landing site was between 85 degrees below zero and 30 degrees below zero. The water vapor content in the atmosphere varies greatly. In the summer the humidity rates far exceed their rates in the winter. The rate of water vapor in the atmosphere is very high in the middle of the day and during the night it condenses near the ground. The polar regions have the highest concentrations of water vapor in the summer.
The brackets photographed haze, fogs and clouds. From the prolonged tests that lasted two years and were done by the compasses, it became clear that the temperature at the equator ranges from 70 degrees below zero to 0 degrees and at the poles it is tens of degrees lower. During the Martian year, significant pressure changes were detected in the atmosphere, changes that accompanied the movement of 2CO clouds from pole to pole.
Biology
Some discoveries have encouraged the researchers regarding the existence of life on Mars:
1. Nitrous oxides were found in the atmosphere at a rate of 2% - 3%, a small amount relative to the Earth, but certainly sufficient to encourage the formation of primitive life such as bacteria and enable their continued existence.
2. The reality of the mineral montmorillonite - this mineral serves as an excellent catalyst for the linking of amino acids and the creation of long-chain protein-like molecules. This mineral is also an excellent catalyst for other synthetic reactions in biological precursor cells.
3. The ice caps at the poles indicate that in the past Mars had a thicker atmosphere and the water was on the ground in a liquid state.
But these discoveries are not the end of the story since the biological experiments can be interpreted ambiguously, biological activity or unknown chemistry typical of the Martian soil. Only additional flights will be given unequivocal answers on the subject.
The moon Phobos
In the northern part of Phobos, long parallel strips inclined at an angle of 30 degrees with respect to the equator and chains of small craters parallel to the equator were discovered. Some chains are similar in shape to the chains of craters found in the plains on the Moon and Mercury. There is also a crater with a relief in the center, close to the equator.
The bands appear across the width of Phobos regardless of the prominent ground features, but are interrupted in different places. Along the bands it is possible to notice small bubbles which apparently indicate the emission of volatile substances from the bands when they were formed.
Several hypotheses have been put forward regarding the formation of the bands:
1. They were formed when Phobos passed through a group of small bodies that hit it and stuck to it.
2. They may originate from the internal structure of this moon which is a body with a layered structure and they represent morphological features of a larger body from which Phobos was formed.
3. The bands are a result of the action of Mars' gravity on Phobos, similar to tidal processes.
Color photographs showed that Phobos is made of carbonaceous chondrites. Asteroid material. Its specific gravity is that of asteroids 2.1 grams per cubic meter. Its color is gray and at the bottom of its craters are black layers that absorb 96% of the light that falls on them. In this Phobos is similar to the darkest among the asteroids. A thick layer of stone fragments is found on it with grooves, cracks and craters. According to Professor Wawerka (at the annual conference of the American Society for Advanced Sciences on February 23, 1977) there are unexpected things on the moon. These findings open the door to the hypothesis that Phobos and Demos, the second moon, are bodies that were captured by the gravity of Mars and not material that was blown away from it.
Based on this information Phobos can be associated with the carbonaceous chondrite family and the existence of small jaws along the bands concluded that geographically Phobos was originally in the outer asteroid belt. Its dimensions are 22.5 km by 14.5 km.
