Missions are born of vision and achieved by hard work and collaboration, and the Viking Mars Missions were no exception. This is reflected in the documents and correspondence we have and will continue to uncover as we examine the extensive collection and discover new materials.
What is less obvious, are the influences beyond traditional professional roles such as the greater scientific community, teachers, family members, coaches, and others that guide and contribute to the success of the team members endeavors’. This project will include and reach beyond the formal team members to uncover the stories and influences around those formally named, from informal and peripheral spheres that helped to create and inspire the Viking Missions directly and indirectly.
Just as Viking did, we are assembling a team of experts on our Advisory Board, to consult in their areas of expertise. We invite you to learn about our experts below, and check back as we build our Team and Staff.
Viking Mars Missions Launch Team, courtesy of Bud Reynolds, NASA Engineering Group Leader, Viking Project Office, KSC.
Viking Advisors and Champions – Viking Team Members and Contributors
(in alphabetical order)
Dr. Ray Arvidson, was the Science Team Leader for the Imaging System on NASA’s Viking Landers from 1977 to 1982. And continue his work on numerous Mars missions including Deputy Principal Investigator for the science payload on NASA’s Mars Exploration Rovers.
Dr. Klaus Biemann, was the Team Leader on the Viking Lander Surface sampler experiment conducting gas analysis of samples. The team name was later changed to molecular analysis. He is currently Professor Emeritus at MIT in the Chemistry Department where he has been awarded numerous awards for his research and contributions.
Dr. George Born, Worked for NASA on the Apollo Program at the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston before moving to JPL where he served on the navigation team for Mariner 9. After this he managed the Orbit Determination group which navigated the Viking Orbiters during mission operations. He later was the Founding Director of the Colorado Center for Astrodynamics Research and was instrumental in rebuilding the Aerospace Engineering Sciences Department at the University of Colorado, Boulder where he still teaches.
Dr. Kenneth Carpenter, Viking Undergraduate Intern (Group 2), currently Operations Project Scientist for the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Project at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Dr. Michael Carr, Viking Team Member, and planetary geologist at the U.S. Geological Survey
Andrew Chaikin, Viking Undergraduate Intern Program – Author, Speaker, Space Historian
Dr. Benton C. Clark, Viking Experiment Investigator, Inorganic Chemistry, developed an instrument for measuring the composition of martian soils. Subsequent missions include the Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) which have been exploring Mars for over six years, and the Phoenix mission which landed in the northern polar regions.
Len Clark, was an Engineer in Dynamic Loads in 1971 working on Apollo, and joined the Viking Program Office in 1973. He was later invited to be the Team Leader of the Soil Sampler, which was responsible for collecting Mars soil for the first ever analysis for organics on Mars by the Viking Biology experiments.
Norm Crabill, NACA – NASA employee from 1949-1986: Viking Mission Design Manager, Lunar Orbiter Mission Design Manager, Chief Engineer Martin Marietta, and current Aerospace Consultant.
Dr. Jim Cutts, participated in the Mariner 6 , 7 and 9 and Viking Orbiter Mars missions and is currently participating in the Outer Planet Flagship Mission Studies at JPL
Dr. William Dieterle, Viking Undergraduate Intern Program – Professor of Physics at California University, PA
Dr. Thomas Duxbury, Science Imaging Teams of Mariners 6, 7, 9, and 10, Viking Orbiter Imaging Team Member, Team Leader of the Viking Phobos/Deimos Encounter Team, Viking Lander 1, Pioneers 10 and 11, Voyagers 1 and 2, the Soviet PHOBOS Mission (PHOBOS 88), Mars Observer (MO), Mars Global Surveyor (MGS), the Dod/NASA Clementine Mission and the Russian Mars 96 Mission (Mars 96).
Dr. Nelson Freeman, worked at Martin Marietta and held various roles on Viking, including the Lead Guidance, Navigation and Control (GN&C) Group, Lead compatibility testing of JPL uplink and downlink mission operations programs with the Viking Proof Test Lander, and Deputy Director of Science and Mission Planning. He continues his work at Lockheed Martin today after retiring from his Director role at Lockheed Martin Corporation.
James R. French, Aerospace Engineer. Helped design, develop and test the rocket engines for the Apollo/Saturn launch vehicles and the Apollo Lunar Module, as well as working at Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) on the Mariner, Viking, and Voyager missions.
Bill Garber, JPL Test Technician, Viking: Qualification of high-reliability components for successful Viking landing on Mars (Test circuit design/oversight)
Sharon Garber, Finance and Administration, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Angelo “Gus” Guastaferro, worked on Viking in its formative years from 1968 and became the Deputy Project Manager for Viking. He later served as NASA HQ Planetary Program Director, Deputy Director of Ames Reserch Center, VP of NASA Programs at Lockheed Martin, and continues to consult, teach, and advise for executives and institutes.
Dr. Noel Hinners, Associate Administrator for Space Science, NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC. providing Administrative leadership during the Viking Missions and invited to participate in early Viking site selection process ~1970, by Gerry Soffen due to expertise on Apollo site certifications. Dr. Hinners then became the Director, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Director of NASA Goddard Flight Center, Associate Deputy Administrator and Chief Scientist NASA HQ, and multiple leadership roles at Martin Marietta-Lockheed Martin. He currently consults for NASA on 4D systems.
Dr. Robert Huguenin, was invited to be a Guest Investigator on Viking to help analyze the results of biology experiments. His role was supported by the NASA Life Sciences and Viking Program offices. His studies later evolved into private sector work in remotely sensed spectral imagery.
Dr. Garry Hunt, NASA Principal Investigator for Voyager (1972-1990 Imaging Team), Science Investigator for Viking.
Dr. Bruce Jakosky, Associate Director at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado at Boulder, and Principal Investigator on MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution Mission), first served on the VIking Missions, and then continued his career working on Solar Mesosphere Explorer, Clementine, Mars Observer, Mars Global Surveyor, Mars Odyssey, Mars Science Laboratory.
Gentry Lee, Chief Engineer for the Galileo project from 1977-1988 and, after working in a variety of positions on the Viking project from 1968-76, was Director of Science Analysis and Mission Planning during the Viking operations.
Dr. Gil Levin, Principal Investigator of the Viking mission Labeled Release experiment, and Founder of Spherix.
Burt Lightener, began his career in aerospace early, working on camera tracking on a joint project with Langley, MIT and Lincoln Laboratory which led to Trailblazer, and his experience with tracking made him a valuable team member for Lunar Orbiter, and later Viking.
Christe McMenomy worked at JPL from 1974 to 1980 processing data for LandSAT, Viking and Voyager. Producing images from raw data like “magic” using pioneering tools in image processing such as VICAR (Video Image Computer Enhancement Language) and doing painstaking detailed tasks such as hand writing programs on green bar sheets for the Punch Press Operators. HP hand held calculators were used with 3” magnetic strips to slide through the top of calculator – these only saved 2000 characters, so the programs had to be small and effective.
Don Miller, served on the Viking Mission planning team for Martin Marietta.
Dr. Ellis Miner, served on Mariner 7, Mariner 8, and Mariner 9 to Mars and then Mariner 10 to Venus and Mercury, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, and was an experiment investigator on the Viking Infrared radiometer and thermal mapping. He also supported NASA Education Outreach as a Science Advisor and Speaker.
Robert T. Mitchell, worked on trajectory design, mission design, and navigation for Mariner ’67, Mariner ’69, Mariner ’71, the Viking mission to Mars, and Galileo, and was Program Manager for Cassini-Huygens.
From left to right *, *, *, *, *, *, Jim Porter, *, Terry Gamber, *, *, *, *, *, *, *, * (* represents not yet identified)
Douglas Mudgway was the Tracking and Data Acquisition Manager on Viking overseeing the Global Tracking Centers in Madrid, Canberra and Goldstone. Mudgway came to JPL in 1962 from Australia to work at JPL on his first mission, Surveyor. Following Viking, he worked on Galileo, and has written award winning books regarding his years in the aerospace industry. 1923 – 2022 R.I.P.
John F. Newcomb, became part of the NASA Viking Management team after engaging on early design planning for Viking as part of the Office of Interplanetary Studies, before the Viking project office was created in 1969. He led the design effort for major portions of the Viking mission design and flight operations design. He then moved to Flight Operations. Prior to Viking he was Lead Trajectory Design Analyst for the Lunar Orbiter project and served as an advisor to the Mission Director during Lunar Orbiter flight operations. After Viking, he became Head of NASA’s Physics and Chemistry Experiments in Space Program (PACE). He continues to teach and mentor other aerospace professionals. 1939 – 2016 R.I.P.
Dr. Adriana Ocampo, was a member of Viking Orbiter Imaging support for geodesy, cartography, and ephemerides analysis of Phobos and Deimos which led to the Phobos atlas compilation and development. She later supported the Voyager Optical Navigation Saturn star catalog development, telescope plate observations, measuring and astrometric reduction.
Dr. William O’Neil, Viking Navigation Chief, Primary Missions, as well as Head of Navigation for Mariner 71 and Mariner 9.
Duke Reiber, worked on the Viking Lander first as contractor working for Martin Marietta Aerospace, and subsequently on the mission operations flight team at JPL.
Emmitt “Bud” Reynolds, NASA Engineering Group Leader, Viking Project Office, KSC. (Assigned to Viking Project Office, Langley Research Center)
Rex Ridenoure, Viking Undergraduate Intern Program – Radio Science, current CEO, Board Member, Co-Founder, Officer of Ecliptic.
Nick Sagan, Writer Producer, Cosmic Ambassador – on behalf of Carl Sagan, Viking Lander Imaging Science-Flight Team Science Investigator, Astrophysicist, Author.
Dr. Walter Schmidt, Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI), The International Mars Exploration Working Group (IMEWG), Mars and Atmospheric Sciences
LtCol Sholtis, participated in White House launch approval safety/risk evaluations of every nuclear-powered space mission launched by the U.S. since Viking.
Dr. Ron Slovikoski, worked for Martin Marietta on the Viking Flight Team Viking 1 Command Sequencing Team Lead, and many subsequent missions, and continues to share his knowledge today teaching an engineering course to students in their senior year.
Pat Slovioski worked on Viking as John Adamoli’s Administrator and continued working in Protocol on future missions.
James (Jim) Tillman, Viking Mars Lander Meteorology Team Member, Lander Mission Planning. (1932 – 2023) R.I.P. Jim was the inspiration for this nonprofit. Father of Founder Rachel Tillman, he was tireless in his pursuit of answers, whether science, social, technology, or institutional.
Al Treder, G&C Maneuver Analyst on prime mission flight team, Viking Mars Orbiter (1971-76)
Al is the Digital Archive Advisor for the project and can be reached for technical questions about scanning and file formats for digital donations.
A. T. Young, Viking Mission Director and former Executive Vice President of Lockheed Martin.
One of the Viking Mars Missions Intern Groups. Courtesy of Kenneth Carpenter, Viking Intern
Champions and Advisory Team – Planetary, Science, and Community Leaders and Educators
Lou Friedman, Co-founder of The Planetary Society with Carl Sagan and Bruce Murray. Former Head of the Mars Program at JPL
Dr. Adam Bruckner, University of Washington, Past Chair & Aero/Astro Department played a prominent role in the restoration of the VL3 Viking Mars Lander
Dr. Erika Wagner, Business Development for Blue Origin
Dr. Steve Squyres, Principal Investigator for the Mars Exploration Rover mission, which includes the Spirit and Opportunity rovers, and Chairman of the NASA Advisory Council.
Ken Stober, Technology Advisor – Business Development/Strategy and Technical Project Management
Oral History Team
Fred Davis, Oral History Advisor – Journalist, Educator and Technologist – In 1976 was the Local/Network News Reporter, KNBC-TV/NBC News on General Assignment/Network Programming News Service with express network reportorial assignments for NASA’s JPL Viking I & II Mars Missions.
Exhibit Development
Bill Colson – providing Digital Signage expertise and ongoing Executive Advisory support for the project
Margot Myers – Director Global Marketing and Communications, Platt Research providing digital signage advisory support.
Technical Support
Bart Kessler – providing Technical Systems Support for the project
Operations Team
Jim Tillman, Inspiration, and Meteorology Educator
Rachel Tillman, Founder, Curator, and Visionary – Artist/Writer, Development, Communications, Executive Director, Operations
George Goodman, Operations and Business Advisor – Technology R&D and Product Development Executive
Ed Cummings, Legal and Business Advisor
Volunteers and Service Providers
The following individuals and companies have provided professional services or products, volunteer time, and/or financial support for this project or it’s predecessors in the form of supporting the educational programs for LEFM-STEP, the original Smithsonian Air and Space Museum exhibit, the current Viking Lander (VL3) exhibit at the Museum of Flight, or the post mission Viking Meteorology Research work of Professor, James E. Tillman, University of Washington.
Volunteers
Dr. Bonnie J. Dunbar, Retired NASA Astronaut, Past CEO of the Museum of Flight, currently leads the new University of Houston’s STEM Center. Championed the development of the current installation of the Viking Mars Lander (VL3) in the Museum of Flight, Seattle, WA, where it is currently on loan.
Don Atkinson – Volunteer, Archiving and Curating, and Viking Support for Atmospheric Sciences, UW
Neal Johnson – Volunteer, Archiving, Curating, Moving, and Technical Support for Atmospheric Sciences, UW
David Warren – Software Engineer at University of Washington
Rachel Tillman – Was responsible for saving the VL3 Viking Mars Lander, co-developed with James Eugene Tillman the Smithsonian Museum Exhibit “Live from Earth and Mars” in 1982, and designed the original exhibit for the University of Washington’s Electrical Engineering Department. Rachel developed the vision for this project, inspired by the work of her father James Eugene Tillman, Gerry Soffen, Conway Leovy, and Carl Sagan, her childhood heros, to pass the lessons of science and leadership to future generations and to honor the collaborators of this unique Mission.
John Schulz built the visual communication elements for the original VL3 Viking Mars Lander exhibit for temporary display at the University of Washington’s Electrical Engineering Department
Jim G. Tillman – (son of James Eugene Tillman) provided photographic image support for the temporary display at the University of Washington’s Electrical Engineering Department and continues to provide photography and image advice to the project
Chris Vancil helped restore the VL3 Viking Mars Lander body for display
Dr. Eckart Schmidt helped restore the VL3 Viking Mars Lander and acquired the model engines and tank
University of Washington students: Dan Brown, Markus Holzinger, and Juergen Koenig for assistance with restoration and moving the lander body
Service Providers
KAMIND, has provided Office 365 Support and Technical Advising for 6 years, with generous time donated by the company and its employees.
Resource One, Computing consulting and support