Guide to the Elliott C. Levinthal Viking Lander Imaging Science Team Papers,
1970-1980
Guide prepared by Kevin Fleming
NASA Ames History Office
NASA Ames Research Center
Mail Stop 207-1
Moffett Field, California 94035
Phone: (650) 604-1032
Email: ARC-DL-history@mail.nasa.gov
URL: http://history.arc.nasa.gov
©2006NASA Ames Research Center. All
rights reserved.
Guide to the Elliott C. Levinthal Viking Lander Imaging Science Team Papers,
1970-1980
NASA Ames History Office
NASA Ames Research Center
Contact Information:
- NASA Ames History Office
- NASA Ames Research Center
- Mail Stop 207-1
- Moffett Field, CA 94035
- Phone: (650) 604-1032
- Email: ARC-DL-history@mail.nasa.gov
- URL: http://history.arc.nasa.gov/contacts.htm
- Collection processed by:
- Kevin Fleming
- Date Completed:
- November 2006.
©2006 NASA Ames Research Center. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: Elliott C. Levinthal Viking Lander Imaging
Science Team Papers
Date (inclusive): 1970-1980
Collection Number: PP04.02
Creator:
Levinthal, Elliott C.
Extent:
Number of containers:22
Volume: 22 cubic feet
Repository:
Ames Research Center,
Ames History Office
Moffett Field, California 94035
Abstract: Collection consists primarily of the Viking orbiter and lander
photographic materials such as prints with descriptive captions, stereo positive/negative
film pairs, and 35mm presentation slides. It also includes maps, ephemera, and published
materials such as newsletters, bulletins, press kits, technical reports and articles related
to the imaging aspects of the Viking Mission. Additionally, there is fair amount of
documentation that encompasses stereo and anaglyph imaging, including materials related to
the documentary film "Mars in 3D." For a complete inventory of this collection, please
contact the NASA Ames History Office.
Language:
English
Administrative Information
Access
Collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
Copyright does not apply to United States government records. For non-government
material, researcher must contact the original creator.
Preferred Citation
NASA Ames History Office, NASA Ames Research Center. Moffett Field, California. PP04.02,
Elliott C. Levinthal Viking Lander Imaging Science Team Papers 1970-1980,
[Container number] : [Folder number]. [Identification of item]. [Date, if available].
Acquisition Information
Donated by Elliott C. Levinthal in April 2004.
Administrative History
The Viking Mission involved two identical spacecraft, Viking 1 and Viking 2, designed to
explore and observe the surface and atmosphere of Mars. Each spacecraft consisted of an
orbiter and a lander. The Viking Mission was considered an extension of the Mariner Mars
1964 and 1969 flyby missions, as well as the Mariner Mars 1971 orbiter missions. As such,
the Viking Mission drew heavily upon the design and hardware specifications of the Mariner
1969 and Mariner 1971 missions.
Viking 1 was launched August 20, 1975, entered Mars orbit June 19, 1976, and landed in the
Chryse Planitia basin of Mars on July 20, 1976. Viking 2 was launched September 9, 1975,
entered Mars orbit on August 7, 1976, and touched down September 3, 1976 on Mars' Utopia
Planitia region, north of where Viking 1 touched down. After the landers touched down, the
orbiters continued circling Mars and surveying the landing areas to detect any changes, such
as dust storms. They also acted as radio relay stations, transmitting those signals not sent
directly to Earth from the landers.
The imagery systems on the Viking spacecraft were capable of providing black and white,
color, infrared, and stereoscopic photographs of the landing site. Close-up photographs from
the cameras provided geologic detail of the Martian surface and soil around the lander
sites, helping to determine if life existed on Mars. Panoramic photographs of the Martian
horizon helped support meteorological investigations. Photographs of an identical area by
cameras from both Landers were used to produce stereographic images.
The Viking 1 Lander began the Viking Extended Mission in January 1978 and continued to
transmit photographs and other data periodically until November 1982. It was later named the
Thomas Mutch Memorial Station on January 7, 1981 in honor of the leader of the Viking
imaging team, who had also served as NASA's fourth Associate Administrator for the Office of
Space Science. On November 13, 1982, a faulty command sent by ground control resulted in
loss of contact. The Viking 2 Lander had settled down with one of its legs on a rock tilted
8.2 degrees. Nevertheless, it continued to operate, sending back high-resolution images
until April 11, 1980, when its batteries failed and it was turned off.
Biographical History
Elliott C. Levinthal was born April 13, 1922 in Brooklyn, New York. He received a BA from
Columbia University in 1942. In 1943, he completed his graduate studies in physics at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology then began working as an engineer at the Sperry
Gyroscope Research Laboratories. In 1949, he received his PhD in Nuclear Physics at Stanford
University.
Later in 1949, he joined Varian Associates as a research physicist, and later became the
research director, as well as a member of the board of directors. He left this company in
1952 and worked as the Chief Engineer of Century Electronics for a short period. In 1953, he
started his own company, Levinthal Electronic Products, which primary business was in
designing and building very specialized modulators and large transmitters, as well as
medical instrumentation. In 1961, following a merger with Radiation, Inc., he dissolved his
involvement with industrial technical enterprises and returned to Stanford University. For
over three decades, he held numerous positions at Stanford University including Professor of
Genetics in the Stanford School of Medicine, Director of the Stanford Instrumentation
Research Laboratory, Director of the Defense Science Office of the Defense Advanced Research
Agency, Research Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Associate Dean for Research at
Stanford University, as well as Director of the Stanford Institute for Manufacturing and
Automation.
His interest in exobiology, the possibilities of experiments to discover whether or not
life exists elsewhere, led him to his involvement with NASA. It began with his participation
in the development of the Multivator, which was intended to be a miniature multipurpose
biochemical laboratory in which a series of simple measurements could be made on samples of
atmospheric dust. It was created by Joshua Lederberg and worked out in prototype form by
Levinthal and his assistants in the Instrumentation Research Laboratory at the Stanford
University School of Medicine. This eventually led him to serving as a member of the Mariner
Mars 1971 Photo Interpretation Team, in which he headed the data processing task group. This
group represented the science team in the conceptualization of the computer processing
techniques and their design and implementation. He later was appointed the role of Deputy
Team Leader on the Viking Lander Imaging Science Team. Following this he severed for several
years as a consultant to NASA and served as a member of the Planetary Biology Subcommittee.
Additionally, he served as a member of the Steering Committee responsible for the Space
Science Board study entitled “Biology and the Exploration of Mars.” He also was an active
participant in the deliberations of the COSPAR Planetary Quarantine Panel and various Space
Science Board reviews of planetary quarantine and sterilization parameters. In 1977, he was
awarded the Public Service Medal for his many contributions to the Viking Project.
Indexing Terms
The following terms may be used to index this collection.
Personal Name
Levinthal, Elliott C.
Corporate Name
Ames Research Center
Subjects
Space flight to Mars
Viking spacecraft
Viking orbiter spacecraft
Viking lander spacecraft
Cameras
Photographs
Electro-optical photography
Geographic Names
Moffett Field
(Calif.)
Scope and Content
The Viking Lander Imaging Science Team: Elliott C. Levinthal Papers is a minimally
processed collection. The collection has been surveyed and inventoried, but it has not been
physically processed, re-housed, and arranged. However, it has been intellectually arranged
into series based on the inventory record. It consists primarily of the Viking orbiter and
lander photographic materials such as prints with descriptive captions, stereo
positive/negative film pairs, and 35mm presentation slides. It also includes maps, ephemera,
and published materials such as newsletters, bulletins, press kits, technical reports and
articles related to the imaging aspects of the Viking Mission. Additionally, there is fair
amount of documentation that encompasses stereo and anaglyph imaging, including materials
related to the documentary film "Mars in 3D." For a complete inventory of this collection,
please contact the NASA Ames History Office.
Arrangement of the Elliott C. Levinthal Viking Lander Imaging Science Team Papers
The papers are arranged into 5 series:
- I: Photographic Images
- II: Maps
- III: Anaglyph and Stereo Imaging
- IV: Publications
- V: Ephemera
PP04.02-1
I: Photographic Images
Scope and Content Note
This series contains images taken from both the Viking 1 and 2 orbiters and landers. It
includes color and black/white 8 x 10 prints with descriptive captions, 12 x 6
positive/negative film pairs of lander images, circular projection images, panoramic
mosaics, and 35mm slides that were utilized for presentation purposes.
PP04.02-2
II: Maps
Scope and Content Note
This series contains maps of the Martian surface. It includes shaded relief maps,
topographic and geologic maps, as well as rectified photomosaic maps.
PP04.02-3
III: Anaglyph and Stereo Imaging
Scope and Content Note
This series contains materials related to the documentary film Mars in 3D film and
equipment utilized for stereo and anaglyph viewing. It includes film prints, audio
reel-to-reel soundtracks, scripts, and technical descriptions of the documentary
film.
PP04.02-4
IV: Publications
Scope and Content Note
This series contains published materials such as books, newsletters, bulletins, press
kits, technical reports and articles related to the imaging aspects of the Viking
Mission. A sampling of the reports includes Instrumentation Research Laboratory Reports
(Stanford University), Multispectral and Stereo Imaging on Mars, Exploring the Surface
of Mars with the Viking Camera, Stanford’s Trip to Mars, Lander Imaging as a Detector of
Life on Mars, and Topography from the Lander Camera. Professional journals and
commercial magazines include Icarus: International Journal of Solar System Studies,
Journal of Geophysical Research, Science, Aviation Week & Space Technology,
Astronomy, and National Geographic. In addition to these there are substantial series of
Viking Mission Status Bulletins and Science Activities (Viking) Newsletters.
PP04.02-5
V: Ephemera
Scope and Content Note
This series contains ephemera items such as bumper stickers, buttons and brochures
pertaining to the Viking Mission to Mars.