Science · Engineering & invention
Klaus Biemann
Chemist and Viking instrument investigator
Who they are
Klaus Biemann led the Viking gas chromatograph–mass spectrometer investigation of Martian surface material. His team’s analysis searched for organic compounds and characterized substances released when samples were heated. The work is central to interpreting the mission’s chemical evidence and the limitations of a life search conducted with particular instruments at two landing sites.
He connects instrument design and sample analysis with the interpretation of Viking’s search for life.
Selected contributions
Selected works
Academic paper · 1977
The search for organic substances and inorganic volatile compounds in the surface of Mars
Biemann and colleagues report the chemical analysis of four soil samples from the two Viking landing sites. Their non-detection of indigenous organics is stated within the instrument’s detection limits and the sampled locations.
Reading scope & citation
Fresh NASA abstract and citation fields only; no full paper downloaded or read.
In the timeline
- Jul 20, 1976Viking lands laboratories to test Martian soil
Biography sources
- Viking Project and Astrobiology ↗NASA Science
- The search for organic substances and inorganic volatile compounds in the surface of Mars ↗NASA Technical Reports Server; Journal of Geophysical Research