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Viking Lander Biological Experiments
In 1976 two identical Viking program landers each carried four types of biological experiments to the surface of Mars. The first successful Mars landers, ''Viking 1'' and ''Viking 2'', then carried out experiments to look for biosignatures of microbial life on Mars. The landers each used a robotic arm to pick up and place soil samples into sealed test containers on the craft. The two landers carried out the same tests at two places on Mars' surface, ''Viking 1'' near the equator and ''Viking 2'' further north. The experiments The four experiments below are presented in the order in which they were carried out by the two Viking landers. The biology team leader for the Viking program was Harold P. Klein (NASA Ames). Gas chromatograph — mass spectrometer A gas chromatograph — mass spectrometer (GCMS) is a device that separates vapor components chemically via a gas chromatograph and then feeds the result into a mass spectrometer, which measures the molecular weight of each ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Viking Biological Package
Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9–22. They also voyaged as far as the Mediterranean, North Africa, Volga Bulgaria, the Middle East, and North America. In some of the countries they raided and settled in, this period is popularly known as the Viking Age, and the term "Viking" also commonly includes the inhabitants of the Scandinavian homelands as a collective whole. The Vikings had a profound impact on the early medieval history of Scandinavia, the British Isles, France, Estonia, and Kievan Rus'. Expert sailors and navigators aboard their characteristic longships, Vikings established Norse settlements and governments in the British Isles, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Greenland, Normandy, and the Baltic coast, as well as a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Astrobiology
Astrobiology, and the related field of exobiology, is an interdisciplinary scientific field that studies the origins, early evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe. Astrobiology is the multidisciplinary field that investigates the deterministic conditions and contingent events with which life arises, distributes, and evolves in the universe. Astrobiology makes use of molecular biology, biophysics, biochemistry, chemistry, astronomy, physical cosmology, exoplanetology, geology, paleontology, and ichnology to investigate the possibility of life on other worlds and help recognize biospheres that might be different from that on Earth. The origin and early evolution of life is an inseparable part of the discipline of astrobiology. Astrobiology concerns itself with interpretation of existing scientific data, and although speculation is entertained to give context, astrobiology concerns itself primarily with hypotheses that fit firmly into existing scien ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hydrogen
Hydrogen is the chemical element with the symbol H and atomic number 1. Hydrogen is the lightest element. At standard conditions hydrogen is a gas of diatomic molecules having the formula . It is colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, and highly combustible. Hydrogen is the most abundant chemical substance in the universe, constituting roughly 75% of all normal matter.However, most of the universe's mass is not in the form of baryons or chemical elements. See dark matter and dark energy. Stars such as the Sun are mainly composed of hydrogen in the plasma state. Most of the hydrogen on Earth exists in molecular forms such as water and organic compounds. For the most common isotope of hydrogen (symbol 1H) each atom has one proton, one electron, and no neutrons. In the early universe, the formation of protons, the nuclei of hydrogen, occurred during the first second after the Big Bang. The emergence of neutral hydrogen atoms throughout the universe occur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nitrogen
Nitrogen is the chemical element with the symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a nonmetal and the lightest member of group 15 of the periodic table, often called the pnictogens. It is a common element in the universe, estimated at seventh in total abundance in the Milky Way and the Solar System. At standard temperature and pressure, two atoms of the element bond to form N2, a colorless and odorless diatomic gas. N2 forms about 78% of Earth's atmosphere, making it the most abundant uncombined element. Nitrogen occurs in all organisms, primarily in amino acids (and thus proteins), in the nucleic acids ( DNA and RNA) and in the energy transfer molecule adenosine triphosphate. The human body contains about 3% nitrogen by mass, the fourth most abundant element in the body after oxygen, carbon, and hydrogen. The nitrogen cycle describes the movement of the element from the air, into the biosphere and organic compounds, then back into the atmosphere. Many indus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oxygen
Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as well as with other compounds. Oxygen is Earth's most abundant element, and after hydrogen and helium, it is the third-most abundant element in the universe. At standard temperature and pressure, two atoms of the element bind to form dioxygen, a colorless and odorless diatomic gas with the formula . Diatomic oxygen gas currently constitutes 20.95% of the Earth's atmosphere, though this has changed considerably over long periods of time. Oxygen makes up almost half of the Earth's crust in the form of oxides.Atkins, P.; Jones, L.; Laverman, L. (2016).''Chemical Principles'', 7th edition. Freeman. Many major classes of organic molecules in living organisms contain oxygen atoms, such as proteins, nucleic acids, carbohydrates, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Helium
Helium (from el, ἥλιος, helios, lit=sun) is a chemical element with the symbol He and atomic number 2. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert, monatomic gas and the first in the noble gas group in the periodic table. Its boiling and melting point are the lowest among all the elements. It is the second lightest and second most abundant element in the observable universe (hydrogen is the lightest and most abundant). It is present at about 24% of the total elemental mass, which is more than 12 times the mass of all the heavier elements combined. Its abundance is similar to this in both the Sun and in Jupiter, due to the very high nuclear binding energy (per nucleon) of helium-4, with respect to the next three elements after helium. This helium-4 binding energy also accounts for why it is a product of both nuclear fusion and radioactive decay. The most common isotope of helium in the universe is helium-4, the vast majority of which was formed during t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vance Oyama
Vance may refer to: Locations United States *Vance, Alabama, a town *Vance Township, Vermilion County, Illinois *Vance, Mississippi, an unincorporated community * Vance, Nebraska, an unincorporated community *Vance County, North Carolina * Vance, South Carolina, a town * Vance, Virginia, an unincorporated community * Vance, West Virginia, an unincorporated community *Vance Air Force Base, Enid, Oklahoma, named after Leon Vance Other *Vancé, a commune of the Sarthe département in France * Vance, Belgium, a village of Étalle commune in Belgium * Mount Vance, Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica * Vance Bluff, Oates Land, Antarctica *Vance Seamounts, seven seamounts (submarine volcanoes) in the Pacific Ocean * Vance Industrial Estate, an industrial subdivision in Leeton, New South Wales, Australia People and fictional characters * Vance (surname) * Vance (given name) Other uses *Cyclone Vance, a 1999 severe tropical cyclone *Hurricane Vance, in the 1990 Pacific hurricane season Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trace Gas Orbiter
The ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO or ExoMars Orbiter) is a collaborative project between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Russian Roscosmos agency that sent an atmospheric research orbiter and the ''Schiaparelli'' demonstration lander to Mars in 2016 as part of the European-led ExoMars programme. The Trace Gas Orbiter delivered the ''Schiaparelli'' lander on 16 October 2016, which crashed on the surface due to a premature release of the parachute. The orbiter began aerobraking in March 2017 to lower its initial orbit of . Aerobraking concluded on 20 February 2018 when a final thruster firing resulted in an orbit of . Additional thruster firings every few days raised the orbiter to a circular "science" orbit of , which was achieved on 9 April 2018. A key goal is to gain a better understanding of methane () and other trace gases present in the Martian atmosphere that could be evidence for possible biological activity. The programme will follow with the ''Kazachok'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chlorinated Organics
An organochloride, organochlorine compound, chlorocarbon, or chlorinated hydrocarbon is an organic compound containing at least one covalently bonded atom of chlorine. The chloroalkane class ( alkanes with one or more hydrogens substituted by chlorine) provides common examples. The wide structural variety and divergent chemical properties of organochlorides lead to a broad range of names, applications, and properties. Organochlorine compounds have wide use in many applications, though some are of profound environmental concern, with TCDD being one of the most notorious. Physical and chemical properties Chlorination modifies the physical properties of hydrocarbons in several ways. These compounds are typically denser than water due to the higher atomic weight of chlorine versus hydrogen. Aliphatic organochlorides are often alkylating agents as chlorine can act as a leaving group, which can result in cellular damage. Natural occurrence Many organochlorine compounds have been isol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Autonomous University Of Mexico
The National Autonomous University of Mexico ( es, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM) is a public research university in Mexico. It is consistently ranked as one of the best universities in Latin America, where it's also the biggest in terms of enrollment. A portion of UNAM's main campus in Mexico City, known as '' Ciudad Universitaria'' (University City), is a UNESCO World Heritage site that was designed by some of Mexico's best-known architects of the 20th century and hosted the 1968 Summer Olympic Games. Murals in the main campus were painted by some of the most recognized artists in Mexican history, such as Diego Rivera and David Alfaro Siqueiros. With acceptance rates usually below 10%, and its research, especially in Artificial Intelligence, being recognized by UNESCO as one of the most impactful globally, UNAM is known for its high quality research and educational level. All Mexican Nobel laureates are either alumni or faculty of UNAM. UNAM was founded, i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rafael Navarro-González
Rafael Navarro-Gonzalez, also known as Rafael Navarro-González and Rafael Navarro, was a Mexican NASA astrobiologist who worked with the ''Curiosity'' rover on the planet Mars, and who helped lead researchers in the identification of ancient organic compounds on the planet. He was an internationally recognized scientist who merged laboratory simulations, field studies and modeling based on biology, chemistry and physics. Navarro-Gonzalez noted the significance of volcanic lightning in the origin of life on Earth. His professional work included the SAM component on the Mars Science Laboratory, and the HABIT instrument on the Exomars mission. He died from complications of COVID-19 on January 28, 2021. In April 2021, NASA named a mountain, "Rafael Navarro Mountain", on the planet Mars in his honor. Awards and honors * Alexander von Humboldt Medal (2009) * Molina fellowship (first recipient) * World Academy of Sciences Award in Earth Sciences See also * List of mo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dichloromethane
Dichloromethane (DCM or methylene chloride, methylene bichloride) is an organochlorine compound with the formula . This colorless, volatile liquid with a chloroform-like, sweet odour is widely used as a solvent. Although it is not miscible with water, it is slightly polar, and miscible with many organic solvents.Rossberg, M. ''et al.'' (2006) "Chlorinated Hydrocarbons" in Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry, Wiley-VCH, Weinheim. . Occurrence Natural sources of dichloromethane include oceanic sources, macroalgae, wetlands, and volcanoes. However, the majority of dichloromethane in the environment is the result of industrial emissions. Production DCM is produced by treating either chloromethane or methane with chlorine gas at 400–500 °C. At these temperatures, both methane and chloromethane undergo a series of reactions producing progressively more chlorinated products. In this way, an estimated 400,000 tons were produced in the US, Europe, and Japan in 19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
