NASA Viking bio Experiment Gold Gem life on Planet Mars Start Price USD 1,000,000.00 Current Price USD 1,000,000.00 Time Left - Bid Count 0 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Friday, August 29, 2008 End Time Monday, September 08, 2008 Location Hampton, VA See more about 'NASA Viking bio Experiment Gold Gem life on Planet Mars' Description Don’t miss this opportunity to own a rare piece of space exploration history.   Mans first attempt to find life in outer space on Mars the red planet.   A NASA Viking Lander Biological Experiment System!   NOT A MODEL OR DISPLAY UNIT – THIS IS THE REAL DEAL    OVERVIEW NASA’s Viking program is reported to be the most expensive and ambitious mission ever sent to Mars. It was the first U.S mission to land a spacecraft safely on the surface of Mars and return data. It is responsible for most of the database information about the planet until recent missions.  The program consisted of a pair of identical space probes sent to Mars via Titan III-E rockets.   When the Viking vehicles entered Mars orbit they separated into two parts, a lander which was designed to study the surface of Mars and an orbiter designed to take photographs and serve as a communication relay for the lander.  Watch the following clip for more info: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJy_2dM5BZ0&feature=related   Each Viking Lander carried a Biological Experiment system just like the one offered here. The system was designed to study the biology, chemical composition (organic and inorganic), meterology, seismology, magnetic properties, appearance, and physical properties of the Martian surface atmosphere. The experiments discovered unexpected and enigmatic chemical activity in the Martian soil, but provided no clear evidence for the presence of living microorganisms in soil near the landing sites. Watch the following clip for more info: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqupKsVVzaQ   Viking 1 Launch = 08-20-1975 Orbiter arrival = 06-19-1976     Orbiter death = 08-17-1980 Lander arrival = 07-20-1976     Lander death = 11-13-1982   Viking 2 Launch 09-09-1975 Orbiter arrival = 08-07-1976     Orbiter death = 07-25-1978 Lander arrival = 09-03-1976     Lander death = 04-11-1980     ITEM DESCRIPTION This system did not make it to Mars but it can make it to your collection. Some of the pictures below showing the inside of the silver mechanical box have never been viewed by the public before.  The winner of this auction will own those parts! In addition to that, the winner of the auction will be one of the first to view the inside of the green electronics box. If a picture is worth a 1000 words, owning a Viking Biological Experiment unit is indeed priceless.   The system we have here for you consists of the following components:   1 – A Green Box that houses the electronics.  This box is in very good condition with a few scratches from display use.  We have not opened this box, therefore the winner will be one of the first (other than those who made it) to view the inside!  If it looks anything like the mechanical box you will be very impressed.   Green Box technical information TRW Electrical Sub-System – VLB1 Part Number = PD6400446-050 Serial Number = 27   TRW Power Control – A1 Part Number = 409731-3 Serial Number 105 – Rev. C5   TRW Data Processor – A2 Part Number = 409732-2 Serial Number = 104 – Rev. B   TRW Control Processor – A3 Part Number = 409733-3 Serial Number = 105 – Rev. B   2 – A silver box that houses the mechanical components. This box is also in very good condition with a few light scratches from display use.  There are some cut wires (see pictures).  We opened this box in our clean room.  When the top was lifted and we got a look inside it absolutely took our breath away.  Everything inside is custom made. There are electronics, wiring, and tubes that are shielded with real gold.  Hours can be spent just admiring the top layer of the internals.   Check out this video for a brief look inside: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUMsHTetlrQ   Silver Box technical information TRW Mechanical Sub-System Part Number = 11982-408502-1 Serial Number = 104     3 – Sample delivery tube. The delivery tube is in great condition.  There are some stickers on it from NASA that will be left on there for the winner to decide if they want to keep or remove. There is very little information that I can find on this part of the system other than it is the delivery tube.  When the cover is opened a beautiful custom made flower assembly blossoms out to direct the sample into the test chamber. This is the part that catches peoples’ eye from a distance and calls them over to see/learn more about the system and how it was used on Mars.     EXPERIMENT INFORMATION The four experiments are presented here in the order in which they were carried out by the Viking craft. I got this info from Wikipedia.   1 - Gas Chromatograph — Mass Spectrometer (PI: Klaus Biemann, MIT) The GCMS is a device which separates vapor components chemically via a gas chromatograph and then feeds the result into a mass spectrometer, which measures the molecular weight of each chemical. As a result, it can separate, identify, and quantify a large number of different chemicals. The GCMS was used to analyze the components of untreated Martian soil, and particularly those components that are released as the soil is heated to different temperatures. It could measure molecules present at a level of only a few parts per billion. However, the GCMS measured no significant amount of organic molecules in the Martian soil. In fact, Martian soils were found to contain less carbon than lifeless lunar soils returned by the Apollo Program. The strongest organic concentrations it measured were minute trace contaminants brought from Earth, left over from the assembly and cleaning of the sample chambers and instruments. This result was difficult to explain if Martian bacterial metabolism was responsible for the positive results seen by LR (see below).   2 - Gas Exchange (PI: Vance Oyama, NASA, Ames) The GEX experiment looked for gases given off by an incubated soil sample by first replacing the Martian atmosphere with the inert gas Helium. It applied a liquid complex of organic and inorganic nutrients and supplements to a soil sample, first with just nutrients added, then with water added too. Periodically, the instrument sampled the atmosphere of the incubation chamber and used a gas chromatograph to measure the concentrations of several gases, including Oxygen, Carbon Dioxide, Nitrogen, Hydrogen, and Methane. The scientists hypothesized that metabolizing organisms would either consume or release at least one of the gases being measured. Such changes in the atmosphere in the sample chamber were to be evidence for life. A positive result was to be followed by the control part of the experiment as described for the PR below.   3 - Labeled Release (PI: Gilbert Levin, Biospherics Inc.) The Labeled Release experiment is the one that gave the most promise for the exobiologists. In the LR experiment, a sample of Martian soil was inoculated with a drop of very dilute aqueous nutrient solution. The nutrients (7 molecules that were Miller-Urey products, and that were metabolized by all microorganisms tested) were tagged with radioactive 14C. The air above the soil was monitored for the evolution of radioactive gas as evidence that microorganisms in the soil had metabolized one or more of the nutrients. Such a result was to be followed with the control part of the experiment as described for the PR below. The result was quite a surprise following the negative results of the first two tests, with a steady stream of radioactive gases being given off by the soil immediately following the first injection. Subsequent injections did not, however, elicit the same reaction, and the experiment remains enigmatic.   4 - Pyrolytic Release (PI: Norman Horowitz, CalTech) Light, water, and a carbon-containing atmosphere of Carbon Monoxide (CO) and Carbon Dioxide (CO2), simulating that on Mars. The carbon-bearing gases were made with carbon-14 (14C), a heavy, radioactive isotope of carbon. If there were photosynthetic organisms present, it was believed that they would incorporate some of the carbon as biomass through the process of carbon fixation, just as plants and cyanobacteria on earth do. After several days of incubation, the experiment removed the gases, baked the remaining soil at 650 °C (1200 °F), and collected the products in a device which counted radioactivity. If any of the 14C had been converted to biomass, it would be vaporized during heating and the radioactivity counter would detect it as evidence for life. Should a positive response be obtained, a duplicate sample of the same soil would be heated to "sterilize" it. It would then be tested as a control and should it still show activity similar to the first response, that was evidence that the activity was chemical in nature. However, a nil, or greatly diminished response, was evidence for biology. This same control was to be used for any of the three life detection experiments that showed a positive initial result.     WARRANTY – SHIPPING – HANDLING - INSPECTION I have not tested this system as I do not know how to operate it.  Please ask any questions before bidding and do not bid unless you have funds available.  Shipping costs are the responsibility of the buyer.  We can pack it up in boxes and have it ready for shipment for the cost of $150.00 then you can have it picked up by the shipper of your choice.  Or if you prefer, it can be picked up in person from our shop BuildMyProduct.com in Hampton Virginia.  Buyer Beware:  Item sold as is, without warranty, and with no liability for any unlikely but possible unsafe or hazardous conditions. Item can only be ground shipped or locally picked up.  If you have a third party pickup the item, you must fax a signed letter informing us of the full name of the agent or driver that will be picking up the item. Under no circumstance will be liable for theft of the item once it’s left our premises – it is up to you to insure that the item is picked up by the correct person.   Visit by appointment only and auction open only to qualified buyers.  Pre-qualify for auction – fax a bank letter to 757-766-7505 dated to and showing the amount you can bid up to over and beyond US $1,000,000.00. For our international bidders, list the country if so we can check the US State Department list of restricted countries. We will email you with authorization to bid once you pass this test. International bidders are required to wire transfer funds into our US bank account. We will provide wire instructions once auction is finished. We will release item for pickup, agency transfer or shipping once we receive confirmation that payment has been made.      To re-iterate: Overseas sales will be regulated by current US state department list of countries that US companies can sell to. Don’t bid if your country is listed. We reserve the right to not sell to a particular party – we will not be liable if a third party including a government agency prevents the sale, completion of sale or any other intent as construed or defined by this auction. We are placing this item on auction as a good faith effort to see the item. That is our full intent. The item is original and authentic, to the best of our knowledge. It has the NASA pedigree, sale paperwork and is exactly identical to the description shown on wikipedia and other Viking data resources. Approved bidders can and should make an appointment to visit and examine. This is no “Bigfoot” this is the real deal!!!     Health and safety We assume that all dangerous materials have been removed from the equipment by the government before public auction sale. All visible checks have been done. We have had this apparatus in our conference room for several years with no ill effect. We would warn any prospective buyer from indiscriminately opening any part of this item unless they are aware and/or have the knowledge of what to expect and the capability to safely open or inspect or handle internal items with resultant exposure. This is high science in its purest form!!!! The experiments included were a quantum leap above and beyond anything prior to 1975 (and we believe surpass technology by standards considered state of art in 2000). In any event, any party involved in listing this item will be held completely harmless from liability as a result from the sale and transfer of this item.   Government ;  if auction is stopped, terminated by any party other than IAS Corp / BuildMyProductuct.com, we will not be liable or responsible for completion of the sale, nor will be liable for any legal remedy. Any money received will be returned (once funds have cleared – minus any non-returned paypal or ebay penalties or any other drafts against the sale transfer amount- any attempts to subvert the above requirements will require the posting of bond sufficient to cover our legal fees – bidders acknowledge this by placing bid.   NOTE:   By bidding, you signify that you understand and accept the above.   How did BuildMyProduct.com come to be able to offer such an exiting and unique piece of space history? Our parent company, IAS Corp. purchases auctions from NASA periodically. We were interested in a particular auction back in 2006, featuring the International Space Station. Ok, not the real one, but the model used to sell the whole project (we think, or at least one of the models) to congress and to the European Union and ESA (European Space Agency). This model is huge, was fabricated from scratch by the legendary model makers of NASA for a cost that may have exceeded several million dollars! Once the project was sold to congress, this model was packed away safe and sound until it was decided to change the mission at NASA Langley/Hampton Virginia. This model was sold, along with the Viking biological unit we are listing here, to IAS Corp. in a legal, public auction sale.   We know one thing for sure, this instrument package must have cost in the 100 million dollar range (adjusted for inflation), you could own it for less than 1/100th the cost!   We are excited to be apart of this area; BuildMyProduct.com is based in the NASA Langley Research and Development Park, right outside of the main gates of NASA. From our complex, you can see the three main wind tunnels that are responsible for much of the aerospace research – the most recent wind tunnel, the NTF, or National Transonic Facility, The NTF was responsible for the high speed wind research involved in the X-43 project at NASA/Langley, the fastest plane on the earth with a top speed of 9.3 mach.   As a legal note:  Buildmyproduct.com is the sole consignee for the item and is responsible for all verbiage contained herein as well as the sale in all entirety and does so fully hold it’s parent company, IAS Corp. completely harmless from any liability resulting of the sale, the ownership or the transfer of said item described herein. Buyer understands that this item is a space artifact and is being sold as such.   For more information, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langley_Research_Center   Do you have a product idea?  Are you looking for a reliable company with experience to turn your idea into reality?  Check out BuildMyProduct.com for your product design, research, engineering, prototyping, and low-volume production needs. BuildMyProduct.com Our Experience and Expertise – Turning your ideas into reality Place a Bid!