The Viking Missions’ influence on writers not only includes those inpsired by the missions, but also those who served on the missions. The depth of influence between science fiction and science-engineering has not gone unnoticed, and includes such characters like Buck Rogers who inspired many Vikings, and Authors like as Carl Sagan and Gentry Lee, both Viking contributors, and other influential authors such as Ray Bradbury, another Viking favorite, and more current writers such as Andy Weir, author of The Martian. However it extends to many other writers, from Journalists of the Viking era to Bloggists of today.
Each of these writers brings a different perspective and content to light. Some use their environments around them to inform and inspire events, characters, and to develop ideas and themes that emerge as their stories progress while producing fictional content. Others tell the stories around them, relating fact with all the color and dynamic of fiction, leaving readers captivated by real events, bringing them alive for general and technical audiences. Together they provide a balance of the real and the possible but unexplored, to keep us wanting more.
All of them, are the storytellers that inspire us to learn and explore, and that capture and remind us of important events, preserving our history and inspiring future generations.
Andrew Chaikin, is an Author, Speaker, and Space Historian that continues to inspire as well as invoke thoughtful reflection on the role of space exploration and its origins. Andrew served as an Intern on the Viking Mars Missions and is an award-winning science journalist and space historian, authoring books and articles about space exploration and astronomy for more than three decades. Writer-director and explorer James Cameron (Titanic, Aliens of the Deep) called him “our best historian of the space age.”
Gentry Lee was not only the Director of Science Analysis and Mission Planning on Viking, and the current Chief Engineer for the Solar System Exploration Directorate at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California leader, but he is also an author, collaborating with other authors, producers, and artists, translating his experience and knowledge into bodies of artistic work, and lectures that that continue to influence future generations. Gentry worked with the late Carl Sagan, on COSMOS
John Newcomb served early on the Viking mission during the formation of the Project Office, on the Site Selection Team. He had many roles, beginning with designing interplanetary trajectories, Mars orbits, and entry descent and landing trajectories. He also designed Operations Protocol – the strategy and end to end process used by Flight Team to execute the Flight Operations phase of the mission, and was the NASA oversight manager for the Mission Operations Software Developers at Martin Marietta and JPL. Prior to Viking, Newcomb worked on the Lunar Orbiter Mission, that mapped the surface of the moon and enabled the Apollo Astronauts to land safely for the “…giant step for mankind…” . During Lunar Orbiter, he designed trajectories and played a hand supporting Dale Shellhorn taking the first Earthrise picture, from the Lunar Orbiter. John attended Virginia Tech, in the Cooperative Engineering Program, where he spent time working between NASA, Langley Research Center’s wind tunnels, laboratories, at Langley’s rocket launching site, and Wallops Island. He later joined the Langley Research Center where he became involved in the Lunar Orbiter and Viking. After Viking, John headed NASA’s Physics and Chemistry Experiments in-Space Program that performed experiments with NASA’s Space Shuttle and The International Space Station. John has contributed significantly to the preservation of the Viking history through outreach to students and professionals at Langley, and has captured his aerospace adventures in his newly released autobiography “A Bunch of Plumbers”.
Duke Reiber began working on Viking as a contractor for Martin Marietta Aerospace, and continued working on the mission during operations at JPL. His role was Deputy Chief of the Public Affairs Support Office, and he worked alongside others, telling the stories of Viking as they unfolded. He was an Editor, Producer, and Publisher of the Viking Mission Status Bulletin newsletters, documenting the mission in real time with beautifully written and technically accurate desciptions that enabled the public to get close to the mission as it evolved. This role was part writer, part editor, and part media production management, which in the 1970s meant many hours interviewing the individuals responsible for decision making, and understanding and clearly translating the complex engineering and science details. It also meant hand producing beautiful and detailed newsletters and bulletins filled with images and copy in a variety of fonts and sizes to best serve the readers comprehension of the myriad of information. All of this was done before word publlishing software programs were created, with an exacto knife, an MTST IBM typesetter, stat cameras and invaluable support from team members such Louise Beard.
Dr. Carl Saganis remembered as a visionary leader bridging the sciences, arts and philosophy. Not only was he a leading scientist, consulting for NASA from the 1950s, he was a Pulitzer Prize winner for the book The Dragons of Eden: Speculations of the Evolution of Human Intelligence, and many other bestsellers, He was also the Author of Cosmos, that inspired the Emmy and Peabody award-winning television series, and became the voice that brought the universe and the aerospace industry into the livingrooms of people in countries all over the world. Carl, along with Bruce Murray and Lou Friedman Founded the Planetary Society, which continues to be the largest space-interest group in the world.
Nick Sagan, writer, producer, and Cosmic Ambassador, brings new layers of storytelling to his writing, through novels, screenplays, graphic novels, computer games, and television productions. His journey into the universe began when his father Carl Sagan recorded his words “Hello from the children of planet Earth,” on the Voyager Golden Record, now aboard Voyager I and Voyager II spacecraft. Nick was just 6 years old when his greeting was recorded, and he continues today bringing new views and perspectives to readers of his works and audiences at the Alder Planetarium and other media he continues to craft.
Cynthia Waldman, is a Viking, Teacher and an author, and has combined her lifelong love of nature and a keen interest in Native American culture to write The Butterfly Basket. Cynthia is a second generation Viking, following her father, Rodger Waldman, who was a configuration manager contracting for GE and later worked at JPL in Public Relations. Cynthia worked with the Viking Biology, Geology and Infared Thermal Mapping teams, and learned computer programming ‘on the job’ for Viking, being one of the very first programmers of “C” while it was still in its infancy. She later became an elementary school teacher and software engineer. Cynthia holds a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from the Northwest Institute of Literary Arts.
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