[hoagy62]

Waitaminit...Viking??? The landers that reached Mars in 1976??? Didn’t those landers stop working decades ago?

[PapaBear3625]

They took another look at 1970’s Viking data

[Abathar]

"NASA's Viking Mission to Mars was composed of two spacecraft, Viking 1 and Viking 2, each consisting of an orbiter and a lander. The primary mission objectives were to obtain high resolution images of the Martian surface, characterize the structure and composition of the atmosphere and surface, and search for evidence of life.

Viking 1 was launched on August 20, 1975 and arrived at Mars on June 19, 1976. The first month of orbit was devoted to imaging the surface to find appropriate landing sites for the Viking Landers. On July 20, 1976 the Viking 1 Lander separated from the Orbiter and touched down at Chryse Planitia (22.48° N, 49.97° W planetographic, 1.5 km below the datum (6.1 mbar) elevation). Viking 2 was launched September 9, 1975 and entered Mars orbit on August 7, 1976. The Viking 2 Lander touched down at Utopia Planitia (47.97° N, 225.74° W, 3 km below the datum elevation) on September 3, 1976.

[LibWhacker]

Yep, they’re still looking at the data though. This wouldn’t be the first time someone has announced the data support life on Mars. The guy (can’t remember his name right now) who designed the experiment where they heated up soil samples and looked at the gases that were given off, always thought it proved there was life on Mars.

[Arrowhead1952]

Waitaminit...Viking??? The landers that reached Mars in 1976???

No. That is where the astronauts planted the American flag, according to Rep. Cynthia McKinney.

[Roccus]

IIRC, the data sent back by the Viking landers still hasn’t all been analyzed.