FROM LIVING WORLD TO A DEAD :

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 in Modern Space Science…………………….32

Background: Space, Mars, and Aliens in the 1950s…………………………………….35

The Ultimate Debate: Is There on Mars? ………………………………………….40

The First Images: Shifting the Debate…………………………………………………..50

Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………57

2. The Beginning of the End?: Viking’s Climactic Impact on Research…………60

Mars During the 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 …………93

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Space Science in Transition: From Viking through the …………………96

Back from the Dead: Mars’s Resurgence……………………………………………….99

Mars Observer: A Failed Start………………………………………………………….107

A 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. Pereplyotchik, and Dr. Shane Strate. I would also like to express my gratitude to other stu