vil1_v_c_o_TPMBK (P-18641, Viking 1-94, 77-H-112 eq, 77-HC-62 eq)
“VIKING DIGS A DEEP HOLE ON MARS -- This 110-degree color panorama of the Viking 1 Landing area was taken Feb. 17 to document deep-trenching activities that took place Feb. 12 and 14. The area viewed extends from north to northeast of the lander. The trench, to the right of the meteorology boom, is being dug to obtain samples from as far as 30 centimeters (12 inches) below the surface. Some significant changes can be seen in this picture, compared with earlier pictures of the landing area: the sky is much brighter than it was in the days just after landing last July. That indicates that the amount of dust suspended in the atmosphere has increased markedly, as more scattered light is now reaching the surface; hence the shadows (of the meteorology boom and the spacecraft itself) are no longer dark. Finally, the amount of reddish dust on the spacecraft has increased as a result of sampling activity: fine dust can be seen on the leg support and the radioisotope thermoelectric generator cover. On March 12 the surface sampler will deliver some fine material from the trench to the inorganic chemical instrument. That sample analysis may help explain the anomalously high sulfur content of previous samples. On April 2 a sample from the bottom of the trench will be delivered to the biology instrument so scientists can try to better understand the chemistry of the Martian soil observed in earlier experiments.”
While a whole lot of entities have, or offer this image - the JPL Photojournal website not being one of them - the following is the only one I came across that at least has an abridged version of the original caption:
www.tsgc.utexas.edu/spacecraft/viking/v1l_01.html
Credit: Texas Space Grant Consortium website.
vil1_v_c_o_TPMBK (P-18641, Viking 1-94, 77-H-112 eq, 77-HC-62 eq)
“VIKING DIGS A DEEP HOLE ON MARS -- This 110-degree color panorama of the Viking 1 Landing area was taken Feb. 17 to document deep-trenching activities that took place Feb. 12 and 14. The area viewed extends from north to northeast of the lander. The trench, to the right of the meteorology boom, is being dug to obtain samples from as far as 30 centimeters (12 inches) below the surface. Some significant changes can be seen in this picture, compared with earlier pictures of the landing area: the sky is much brighter than it was in the days just after landing last July. That indicates that the amount of dust suspended in the atmosphere has increased markedly, as more scattered light is now reaching the surface; hence the shadows (of the meteorology boom and the spacecraft itself) are no longer dark. Finally, the amount of reddish dust on the spacecraft has increased as a result of sampling activity: fine dust can be seen on the leg support and the radioisotope thermoelectric generator cover. On March 12 the surface sampler will deliver some fine material from the trench to the inorganic chemical instrument. That sample analysis may help explain the anomalously high sulfur content of previous samples. On April 2 a sample from the bottom of the trench will be delivered to the biology instrument so scientists can try to better understand the chemistry of the Martian soil observed in earlier experiments.”
While a whole lot of entities have, or offer this image - the JPL Photojournal website not being one of them - the following is the only one I came across that at least has an abridged version of the original caption:
www.tsgc.utexas.edu/spacecraft/viking/v1l_01.html
Credit: Texas Space Grant Consortium website.