THE UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER SEP 2 1989

COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCE
. RIVER CAMPUS STATION
ROCHESTER, NEW YORK 14627

DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGY August 28, 1969

Hon. Clinton P. Anderson

Chairman, Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences
United States Senate Office Building

Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear Mr. Senator:

It was very kind of you to send me an excerpt from the Congressional
Record in which you rectified the accusations that had been leveled
against the ICBC. I am happy that this brief excitement subsided so

rapidly and that it did not interfere with the’ schedule for our successful
Apollo 11 mission.

I would like to take this opportunity to comment on some public
reaction to the results of the recent Mariner VI and Mariner VII encounters
with Mars. While it had been stated in advance that the missions were not
intended to convey any direct biological information, it was of course
inevitable that the data obtained by these two Mariner flights were
immediately considered from a biological point of view. In particular, <
I heard numerous comments to the effect that the presence of meteoritic ~
craters suggested a “moon-like" environment, and that the failure to
observe free gaseous nitrogen was sufficient to indicate the absence of
living organisms and hence the futility of conducting any biological
exploration of Mars. Allow me to comment on the observation of numerous

craters, the role of nitrogen, and the purpose of the biological exploration
of Mars as I see it. :

The existence of craters alone may evoke in many people's minds a

vision of the lunar surface, purely by association. Yet the Earth has its
share of meteoritic craters, albeit in much smaller numbers, the most
Spectacular example being the great Arizona crater. It can be argued that
craters contribute to a diversification of the environment, with the
creation of ecological niches favorable to colonization by living organisms
by giving access to deeper geological formations, protection from radiation

in the shadows, and providing opportunity for the accumulation of essential
elements.

On Earth we are acquainted with a complex nitrogen cycle, one in
which nitrogen occurs in a variety of reduced and oxidized states. These
include nitrogen in its most reduced form, ammonia, in its most oxidized
form, nitrate, and in several intermediate forms such as gaseous nitrogen,
various oxides of nitrogen, and nitrite. While microorganisms in particular
are active in the interconversion of these various nitrogen compounds, the
one form of nitrogen which is important for the life that we know is
ammonia, which is utilized immediately for the formation of amino groups in
Senator Anderson
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fugust 28, 1969

amino acids. It is entirely conceivable, a. % »rote in the volume on

"Biology and the Exploration of Mars" which the ."scemy published in 1965,

for life to exist without such an elaborate nitrogen cyeis which, incidentally,
in part is also dependent on the existence of free oxygen, One may well
envisage an environment in which all biologically significant nitrogen is
found either in the amino groups of amino acids or in ammonium salts. The
preliminary report that free ammonia has been observed in the Martian
atmosphere may or may not be confirmed by more extensive analysis of the

data, but the above argument appiies even if no free ammonia were detected

in the Martian atmosphere.

Perhaps more significant is the purpose of the biological exploration
of Mars, Such exploration has at times been characterized as a "search
for life". This is an unfortunate formulation, since it suggest that the
failure to find living organisms is a failure of the exploration, and that
nothing remains but to go home and stay there. To me the biological
exploration of Mars is merely a part of the systematic study of the
planetary surface. The discovery of life or the determination that no
life exists are equally exciting to me. Naturally, the discovery of
living organisms would open a host of exciting problems in comparative
biochemistry. However, the definite establishment that no life exists
on Mars, would for the first time place at our disposal a planetary
surface which has not been turned topsy-turvy by living organisms. We
would undoubtedly be strongly influenced in our views concerning the
origin of life and its evolution, and learn more about the conditions
under which life can and under which it cannot evolve. It would be
important, in the absence of life on Mars, to determine which limiting
factor prevented the development of such a complex chemistry as leads to.
the evolution of life. Is it the lack of water? Is it the lack of
nitrogen? Is it the excessive radiation? I might go so far as to say
that were I a biologist from another galaxy, sent to this solar system
for the purpose of studying biology, I could wish for nothing better
than to find two comparable planets, one with and one without life, one
experimental planet and one control. It is for this reason that
I am convinced that we must use our greatest ingenuity in devising
instruments which are capable of establishing the presence of living
organisms on Mars or excluding such a possibility. Clearly, this cannot
be done in a single mission. Our first and most naive approach must be
an attempt to detect organisms similar to those on Earth. Should such
organisms be absent there are alternative approaches possible which would
search out complicated molecular structures which conceivably might
support life of some other type than the one with which we are acquainted.

I apologize for this long-winded dissertation, but 1 believe that
they represent more accurately the biologist's point of view when the
purpose of the biological study of Mars is discussed. I admit that it
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August 28, 1969

is not an easy point of view to explain to uninformed laymen, but I am
sure that you will appreciate it. I have even found it possible to
present successfully this attitude to local civic groups, such as our

local Kiwani chapter, members of our police department, and other
local luncheon groups.

Sincerely yours,

IID Ni boc

Wolf V\shniac
Biology Team Leader - Viking Project

WV: bem
xc: Dr. Rea
Dr. Young

Dr. Soffen