PIA00395: The Collector Head Of Viking Lander 1's Surface Sampler

Target Name: Mars Is a satellite of: Sol (our sun) Mission: Viking Spacecraft: Viking Lander 1 Instrument: Camera 2 Product Size: 259 samples x 402 lines Produced By: JPL Producer ID: P17463 Addition Date: 1996-12-12 Primary Data Set: Viking EDRs Full-Res TIFF: PIA00395.tif (17.72 kB) Full-Res JPEG: PIA00395.jpg (7.968 kB)

Original Caption Released with Image: The collector head of Viking l's surface sampler is full of Martian soil destined for the gas chromatograph mass spectrometer, the instrument which analyzes the surface material for the presence of organic molecules. The material was scooped out of the surface on August 3, but the sampler arm stopped operating while transporting it to the instrument. The Martian soil will be deposited into the instrument's processor today. The surface sampler is operating properly, but the cause of last week's problem is not yet known. This picture, taken Monday (August 9), was made for operational purposes, focusing on the collector head. Hence, the out-of-focus view of the Martian surface. Image Credit: NASA/JPL