FROM LIVING WORLD TO A DEAD EARTH:
MARS IN AMERICAN SCIENCE SINCE THE SPACE AGE
A thesis submitted
To the Kent State University in partial
Fulfillment of the requirements for the
Degree of Master of Arts
by
Ian Varga
May 2016
© Copyright
All rights reserved
Except for previously published materials
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Thesis written by
Ian Varga
B.A., Oberlin College, 2013
M.A., Kent State University, 2016
Approved by
Matthew J. Crawford, PhD , Advisor
Kenneth J. Bindas, PhD , Chair, Department of History
James L. Blank, PhD , Dean, College of Arts and Sciences
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS………………………………………………………………………v
INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………………………1
CHAPTERS
1. The Next Frontier: The Origins of Mars in Modern Space Science…………………….32
Background: Space, Mars, and Aliens in the 1950s…………………………………….35
The Ultimate Debate: Is There Life on Mars? ………………………………………….40
The First Images: Shifting the Debate…………………………………………………..50
Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………57
2. The Beginning of the End?: Viking’s Climactic Impact on Martian Research…………60
Mars During the Mariner Years………………………………………………………………65
The Plan Viking………………………………………………………………………………72
Unsettling Discoveries………………………………………………………………………..80
Viking’s Legacy………………………………………………………………………………87
Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………….90
3. The Dead Earth: Mars as an Emblem of Recent American Space Exploration…………93
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Space Science in Transition: From Viking through the Space Shuttle…………………96
Back from the Dead: Mars’s Resurgence……………………………………………….99
Mars Observer: A Failed Start………………………………………………………….107
A Rock and A Rover: A New Generation of Martian Missions………………………..110
Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………...116
CONCLUSION………………………………………………………………………………...120
BIBLIOGRAPHY……………………………………………………………………………...138
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Acknowledgements
This project would not have been possible without the support of a number of other scholars that contributed to my knowledge of the field and improved my writing. Foremost, I greatly appreciate the coordinated and extensive help from my advisor, Dr. Matthew Crawford, whose guidance was necessary for organizing this project and becoming familiar with the historiography. I would also like to thank other professors at Kent State University that contributed to the project or my writing, namely Dr. Mary Heiss, Dr. Kenneth Bindas, Dr.
Timothy Scarrnechia, Dr. David Pereplyotchik, and Dr. Shane Strate. I would also like to express my gratitude to other stu