VIKING Mars Lander No. 3 Has Landed
at University of Washington!
Several decades ago, Professor Jim Tillman, a Co-investigator
of the Viking Meteorology Science team, obtained the Viking Lander Flight
Model No. 3 (FC3), body. While acquiring Viking Meteorology
Instrument Sensor Assembly, VMIS, hardware, he discovered that Viking
Flight Lander body, FC3, and many components were being
surplused and would likely be melted down for scrap. At the request of
his daughter Rachel, he obtained FC3, the associated entry vehicle,
its parachute and other items.
Later, trading slides made for the Viking View of Mars
Permanent exhibit at the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum,
Washington, D. C. he obtained a meteorology boom, and two S-band
antennas, (all authentic parts). Lander legs were also acquired, which
are now attached to the body.
Howard Chizeck, Chair of the Department of Electrical
Engineering (EE) generously offered a prominent display spot adjacent
to the EE Dept. office.
This Viking FC3 Lander is a unique educational exhibit which we plan
to upgrade by attaching thrusters and tanks if we can obtain
them. The lander will be
surrounded by images, posters and other items on the wall. In the
future, flat-panel computer displays and possibly an interactive
information station with live/recently downlinked data fed from
spacecraft currently in orbit around Mars or the planned Metlander
(Meteorology Lander), on the surface of Mars (another Mars
meteorology project with the participation of Professor Tillman and
the UW).
The Museum of Flight at Boeing Field in Seattle has a VIKING
aeroshell and parachutes. The
the lander, with the aerosell and parachute were shipped from Denver
to Jim Tillman at the same time.
These items may be displayed together in the
future, if an appropriate venue is avilable.
The lander had been on display at a Seattle area school for
several years. Images from
that display can be seen at
http://www.atmos.washington.edu/~mars/viking/lander/. At that location, it was
hung on a wall (due to lack of floor space), but it will be
installed horizontally in the same orientation as Landers 1 and 2 sit
on Mars.
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Figure 1
VL3 on Display at SCDS School in Seattle
Prior to moving it to the
UW, FC3 was cleaned to remove dust and dirt. Figure 2 a and b show one of the
worst areas before and after the cleanup with soap and
water.
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a b
Figure 2 VL3 before and after Cleanup with Sponge and Brush and Soapy
Water
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We will keep FC3 as authentic as possible, with original
hardware, substituting only in a few places with some
look-alikes,
created by Chris Vancil and the "REDMOND ROCKET CENTER", developers of
the original Viking Lander engines.
On May 8, 2002, the Viking Mars Lander was moved from a
storage shed to the AERL building on campus where it underwent more
cleanup and limited restoration in preparation for its move to the EE
building. We have enlisted
help from several volunteers for working on the project. Included
among these are Dr. Schmidt, and especially Chris Vancil. Figure 3 shows the VL3 body during
the move from a storage shed at Jensen Motor Boat Company to the UW
Campus.
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Figure 3 VL3 Being Moved by Forklift from a Storage Shed to a Waiting UW
Truck
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Once at the UW, FC3 was moved by muscle power (Figure 4)
through narrow doorways to a work area in the Aerospace Research
building, courtesy of Prof. Adam Bruckner, Chair, where it underwent
cleanup, restoration and protection work; students contributed to
these efforts. Eckart Schmidt
volunteered to assist with some of the activities and Figure 5 shows Eckart bent over the
FC3 trying to decide what to do next.
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Figure 4 VL3 Arriving at
the Temporary Work Area in the AERL Building on UW Campus
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Figure 5 Trying to put it
back together: One of the Team Members
Involved in the Restoration Effort and a Former Contributor to the Viking
Lander Retro Propulsion System, Dr. Eckart W Schmidt (Retired from Rocket
Research Company).
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We are now looking for sponsors, especially those who
contributed to the Viking program, to support the Viking restoration
and exhibit. This is a good
opportunity for Viking contributors to gain additional public
relations / advertising on a now historical project. The lander is most valuable as an
educational tool to attract young students into careers in
astronautics and give future aero/astro and electrical/computer
sciencintists and engineers a chance to see a genuine spacecraft
close-up. The LFEM - STEP
program has worked with local schools, as well as national and
international entities at the highest levels, developing and
supporting Mars exploration over the past 25 years. schools.
The Viking Lander program included five landers, three Flight
units, A Science Test Bed, STB, lander and a Proof Test Capsule,
PTC. If all three Flight landers had been completed to a flight-ready
status where FC3 was to be the all-up spare, it would now be at the
Viking Lander
1 site. While preparing for the first launch,
last-minute repairs that delayed
the launch, causing the complete
Viking "B" payload to be exchanged
for the "A" payload. If the
FC3 spacecraft had been
completed, it would
have replaced the "A" payload instead of the "B"
payload: as the program progressed, it was decided not to complete it
to save more than $ 20 million. After repairing the "A" payload, it
was launched to the Viking Lander 2 site. The two other Viking landers are in
the Smithsonian
National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D. C., and in the
Virginia Air and Space Center in Hampton, VA. However, these do not
include "flight" lander bodies, and are a long way from
Seattle. Between the UW,
Rocket Research
Company and Sundstrand Data Control, there were
several significant
local contributions to the Viking program and
this exhibit and associated web and other resources will foster local
public awareness of our contributions.
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We realize
that there are other Viking landers in museums in
other parts of the
country.
Figure 6 shows Eckart Schmidt
next to the Viking Lander at the
Virginia Air and Space Center in Hampton, VA,
pointing at one of the
terminal descent engines. We
also have an image of the lander in the Smithsonian Air and
Space
Museum in Washington, D. C.
It
would be nice to restore our VL3 to the same level of
completeness, but that
would be very difficult. It is better
to have in incomplete
lander at the UW, than to have to travel all they way
across the
continent to see a more complete one close-up.
The two
lander legs were initially still in the stowed flight condition, with the
springs in the primary strut compressed and held in place by a pyrotechnic pin
puller (Figure 7). In the extended
position, the main strut is 51 in. long.
In order to have the lander sit in our display at the proper elevation,
the pin pullers were manually removed while exerting a compressive load on the springs,
and then allowing the springs to extend until the legs latched in place. The spring force was less than expected, a
little more effort than trying to open the rear door on a hatchback automobile.
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Figure
7 Lander Leg Stowed/Extended Envelope
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Eckart W.
Schmidt, Affiliate Associate Professor, Department of Aeronautics and
Astronautics, University of Washington
e-mail:
eckart16@u.washington.edu
e-mail:
eckartwschmidt@msn.com
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Rev. C (29 July 2002)