Forty years ago, NASA's Viking mission made history when it became the first mission to successfully land a fully operational spacecraft on Mars.

This mission gave us our first real look at the Martian surface, as well as the fundamental science that has enabled continued missions to the Red Planet, laying the foundation for NASA's Journey to Mars.

The spacecraft, dubbed Viking 1, touched down on the Martian surface July 20, 1976 – its counterpart, Viking 2, followed suit and landed Sept. 3 of that same year.

The mission objectives were carefully laid out: Obtain high-resolution images of the Martian surface, characterize the composition of the Martian surface and its atmosphere, and search for life.

After years of imaging, measuring and experimenting, the Viking spacecraft ended communication with the team on Earth, leaving behind a multitude of data that scientists would study for the next several years.

As engineers and scientists planned for later missions to Mars, the rolls of microfilm containing the Viking data were stored away for safekeeping and potential later use. It would be another 20 years before someone looked at some of these data again.

NASA's deep archives

David Williams is the planetary curation scientist for the NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

The archive houses much of NASA's planetary and lunar spacecraft data stored on microfilm and computer tapes, including the Viking data. Williams works to digitize all of the data so that it can be easily accessed from the web.

“At one time, microfilm was the archive thing of the future,” Williams said. “But people quickly turned to digitizing data when the web came to be. So now we are going through the microfilm and scanning every frame into our computer database so that anyone can access it online.”

In the early 2000s, Williams received a call from Joseph Miller, associate professor of cell and neurobiology at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles requesting data from the Viking biology experiments. But all that was left of the data was stored on microfilm.

“I remember getting to hold the microfilm in my hand for the first time and thinking, “We did this incredible experiment and this is it, this is all that's left,'” Williams said. “If something were to happen to it, we would lose it forever. I couldn't just give someone the microfilm to borrow because that's all there was.”

The archive team decided to tear open the boxes of microfilm and begin digitizing the data.

Lasting knowledge

Miller wanted to analyze the data from Viking's biology experiments to see if the Viking science team had missed something in the original analysis. He concluded that one of the Viking biology experiments did, indeed, offer proof that life may exist on Mars.

In one of the experiments, known as Labeled Release or LR, the Viking landers scooped up soil samples and applied a nutrient cocktail. If microbes were present in the soil, they would likely metabolize the nutrient and release carbon dioxide or methane.

The experiment did indicate metabolism, but the other two Viking experiments did not find any organic molecules in the soil.

The science team believed the LR data had been skewed by a non-biological property of Martian soil, resulting in a false positive. While arguments continue, this remains the consensus view.

This was not the first time scientists disagreed about the results of the Viking biology experiments. Since the very first data analysis, scientists argued about whether the experiments proved that Mars really was harboring life.

“The data were very controversial,” Williams said. “But, in a way, it helped push for continued Mars missions and landers. The very next missions were planned around what we found with Viking, and then the next group of missions built upon those. But even our most current Mars missions still refer back to Viking.”

One such mission is Curiosity, which landed on Mars Aug. 6, 2012. Equipped with an instrument suite known as Sample Analysis at Mars, or SAM, the Curiosity rover is capable of searching for organic compounds on the Martian surface.

SAM is able to detect a lower concentration of a wider variety of organic molecules than any other instrument sent to Mars, including those on Viking.

“We built SAM based on a lot of experience and heritage from Viking,” said Danny Glavin, associate director for Strategic Science in the Solar System Exploration Division at NASA Goddard and former planetary protection lead for SAM. “The capabilities of the Viking landers and instruments were very advanced for the technology at the time. Just demonstrating that you could land a spacecraft on the Martian surface successfully was a huge feat.”

Unlike Viking at the time, data from Curiosity's experiments are uploaded to the Planetary Data System for easy accessibility.

“Viking data are still being utilized 40 years later,” Glavin said. “I know the same will be true for SAM. The point is for the community to have access to this data so that scientists 50 years from now can go back and look at it.”

In 2016, the Viking legacy continues.

Lessons learned from Viking technology blazed the trail for future Mars missions, which have vastly improved our understanding of the Red Planet.

Today NASA has a fleet of orbiters and rovers on and around Mars, making key discoveries such as evidence of liquid water near the surface of Mars and paving the way for future human-crew missions.

The Mars 2020 rover recently passed an important mission milestone toward launch in 2020, arriving on Mars in February of 2021.

Its mission is to seek signs of past life and demonstrate new technologies to help astronauts survive on Mars, with the goal of sending humans to the Red Planet in the 2030s.

For more information about NASA's Viking program, visit http://www.nasa.gov/viking .

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – A Clearlake man was arrested early Friday morning after authorities say he stole a Lake County Fire Protection District ambulance from the scene of a fire.

Derrick Kyle Schuleter, 24, was taken into custody by a Clearlake Police detective who, along with the fire chief, tracked Schuleter down in the Lower Lake area, according to Sgt. Rodd Joseph.

Joseph said that at 7 a.m. Friday Clearlake Police officers responded to a report of a possible stolen ambulance from the scene of a fire near Walmart.

Information received by Clearlake Police Dispatch was there was an unauthorized male voice using the emergency radio in Medic Unit 7013, Joseph said.

At the time of the call, Joseph said the Lake County Fire Protection District was actively working a wildland fire off of 18th Avenue, near St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake. The fire was located close to the area where the Extension fire would break out Friday afternoon.

Clearlake Police Dispatch was able to confirm with Lake County Fire Protection District that one of their ambulances, Medic Unit 7013, had just been stolen from the scene of the early morning fire, Joseph said.

Joseph said Clearlake Police officers immediately began checking the area for the stolen ambulance.  One of the firefighters had left his cellular phone inside the stolen ambulance and was able to track it. 

Det. Elvis Cook and Lake County Fire Protection District Chief Willie Sapeta responded to the area of Morgan Valley Road and Oak Haven Road, in unincorporated Lake County, where the stolen cellular phone was last tracked, Joseph said.

While en route to that location, dispatch obtained new coordinates for the stolen phone, now putting it on Morgan Valley Road near Sloan Ranch Road, according to Joseph.

Joseph said Cook and Sapeta arrived in the 21000 block of Morgan Valley Road and observed a male subject – later identified as Schuleter – walking down a dirt driveway toward Morgan Valley Road. 

Schuleter had blood on his hands and admitted to stealing the ambulance, Joseph said. Schuleter was found in possession of the stolen and tracked cellular phone, another stolen phone from the ambulance and other stolen medical equipment from the ambulance. 

Jail records showed his bail was set at $20,000. He remained in custody early Saturday.

The stolen ambulance was found farther up the dirt road where Schuleter was seen walking, Joseph said.

Joseph said the ambulance was heavily damaged, with the rear cargo area having been ransacked in an apparent attempt to try and steal medication and supplies. A newer recreational vehicle parked near the stolen ambulance also had been vandalized.

Schuleter was arrested by Cook and transported back to the city of Clearlake for processing and medical treatment for injuries he sustained during his crime spree, Joseph said.

During questioning, Joseph said Schuleter admitted to stealing the ambulance, driving to where it was located and vandalizing the unrelated recreational vehicle. 

Schuleter was charged with theft of an emergency vehicle while on an emergency call, tampering with a motor vehicle, malicious mischief to a vehicle, several counts of possession of stolen property and driving without a license. He later was booked into the Lake County Jail, according to Joseph.

Joseph said the case will be forwarded to the Lake County District Attorney’s Office for filing.

The stolen ambulance was returned to the Lake County Fire Protection District office. Joseph said it has been taken out of service for repairs.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Lake Community Pride Foundation will present the sixth annual Power to the Youth event on Saturday, Aug. 6.

The popular festival will offer physical activities, youth entertainment, music and community education from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Clearlake's Austin Park, 14077 Lakeshore Drive.

This year's event will feature a basketball tournament for different age groups and a skate park competition for varying skill levels in scooters, BMX and skateboarding with prizes for the winners.

It is free to enter these activities and all participants must register in advance and/or be prepared to play at 10 a.m. on the day of the event.

Glory Day's Flag Football League will have its annual Power to the Youth flag football event.

A stage in the front of the park will feature this year's musical lineup: Fetti Rich, Masta Slash Beatz and The Lyricist and more.

Multiple bouncy houses and free horse rides as well as local agency booths offering activities and information about their services will be available throughout the park.

Ranging from education to politics to health care and local businesses, more than 30 booths will be featured at this year's event. 

Admission to the event is free so bring the whole family.

Lake Community Pride Foundation is a nonprofit group who maintains and supports a teen shelter, Safe House of Lake County, supports the youth performing arts and organizes youth events for the community.

If you're interested in holding a booth for the event, volunteering for the event, or donating towards the cause of the event, please contact Bruno Sabatier at 707-695-0834 or at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

LAKEPORT, Calif. – A Northshore man convicted last year of the 2011 murder of an Upper Lake woman has been sentenced to life in prison.

On Friday, Judge Stephen Hedstrom sentenced Daniel Ray Loyd, 54, of Nice to life without the possibility of parole for the shooting death of 48-year-old Cindy Quiett.

Before beginning to serve his life sentence, Loyd must first serve 36 years and four months in state prison based on the other charges and allegations he was convicted of at trial, according to Senior Deputy District Attorney John DeChaine.

Authorities said Loyd drove to Lucerne in a borrowed van on the morning of Sept. 13, 2011, intending to rob Quiett's boyfriend, Patrick Ryden, who Loyd said owed him for methamphetamine he had fronted him to sell.

Loyd, using a loaded .357 pistol he had borrowed from the van's owner, confronted Ryden, sticking the pistol in his face. The men struggled, with the gun pushed in the direction of Quiett, who was standing across the street direction.

The gun went off, she was struck in the stomach and died a short time later.

Lake County Sheriff's Det. John Drewrey, the case's lead detective, arrested Loyd on the day of the murder. Loyd has remained in custody since then.

Jury selection began on April 15, 2015. DeChaine prosecuted the case, with David Markham serving as the Loyd’s trial counsel. Judge Hedstrom presided at the trial.

DeChaine credited thorough detective work for the prosecution's ability to present the evidence leading to Loyd's conviction.

Loyd took the stand in his trial, admitting to being a drug dealer and testifying that he had been high on meth at the time of the shooting, at which point he also hadn't slept for 10 days.

A jury member told Lake County News after the verdict was handed down that Loyd's testimony had hurt him, rather than helped him, at trial.

In finding Loyd guilty, DeChaine said the jury unanimously rejected the defense counsel’s argument that Loyd was not the legal cause of Quiett’s death.

At trial, the defense contended that Ryden’s act of swatting the gun from his face was an intervening act and Quiett's subsequent death was unforeseeable. However, by arguing that Quiett’s death was unforeseeable, the defense unsuccessfully argued that Loyd should be absolved of legal responsibility. 

On June 5, 2015, the jury reached its verdict, convicting Loyd of Quiett's murder.

In addition, the jury handed down guilty verdicts for assault with a firearm on Ryden, attempting to rob Ryden, being a felon in possession of a firearm and being a felon in possession of ammunition. 

The jury also determined that Loyd had personally used a firearm in the commission of the murder, attempted robbery and assault with a firearm. 

In a separate proceeding, following the jury verdicts, the court ruled that the special allegations the prosecution had alleged against Loyd were true.

Specifically, the special allegations included that Loyd had a prior strike conviction for attempted robbery in the state of Indiana, and that Loyd had two prior prison terms. 

Shortly after his conviction last year, Loyd filed a motion seeking a new trial. Attorney William Conwell represented Loyd for the purposes of the new trial motion and for his sentencing, which was allowed to go forward after Loyd's new trial motion was denied on July 1, DeChaine said.

At the conclusion of the Friday sentencing hearing, Judge Hedstrom ordered that Loyd be delivered to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to begin serving his sentence, DeChaine said.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

NORTH COAST, Calif. – A Friday morning crash involving a REACH aircraft in Humboldt County claimed the lives of four people.

REACH Air Medical Services and Cal-Ore Life Flight confirmed that the accident involved a Piper Cheyenne aircraft associated with Cal-Ore’s base in Crescent City.

Three crew members and a patient were on board the plane, REACH reported.

“This is one of the saddest moments in our history,” the organization – which also serves Lake County – said in a Friday afternoon statement.

REACH said the plane departed at 12:29 a.m. Friday from Crescent City Airport, bound for Oakland International Airport

The Humboldt County Sheriff's Office reported that at around 1 a.m. Friday the pilot of the twin-engine Piper PA31 declared an emergency due to smoke in the cockpit, and indicated he was going to return to Crescent City.

However, radar contact with the aircraft was lost about five miles northeast of Arcata Airport, and communication with the aircraft ceased at about 1:05 a.m., according to reports from the sheriff's office and REACH.

Authorities including the Humboldt County Sheriff's Office, US Coast Guard, Cal Fire, Civil Air Patrol, California Highway Patrol Air Division and the Office of Emergency Services launched a search for the plane.

Sheriff's officials said search and rescue teams found a crash site with a quarter-mile-long debris field on private timber company in the Cranell area, located north of McKinleyville, at around 10 a.m.

At that point, the Humboldt County Sheriff's Office confirmed two fatalities, secured the scene and notified the National Transportation Safety Board, which is set to arrive at the location at 11 a.m. Saturday.

Cal-Ore also notified the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration, according to REACH's statement.

The sheriff's office reported that it was in communication with REACH Air Medical Services and confirmed that there were four people on the plane.

REACH said it had critical incident stress management teams in the area and were doing all it could to help those involved.

Late Friday night, the Humboldt County Sheriff's Office reported that its coroner’s division completed recovery of the victims from the crash at 8:30 p.m.

The agency confirmed four fatalities, and said the bodies of three females and one male were recovered from inside the wreckage of the aircraft.

The ages and identities of the victims were being withheld at that time pending identification and notification of next of kin, the sheriff's office said.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

Five years after departing Earth, and a month after slipping into orbit around Jupiter, NASA's Juno spacecraft is nearing a turning point.

On Sunday, July 31, at 12:41 p.m. PDT, Juno will reach the farthest point in its orbit of Jupiter for the first time, known as “apojove,” five million miles from the giant planet.

After that point, Jupiter's gravitational grip on Juno will cause the spacecraft to begin falling back toward the planet for another pass, this time with its scientific eyes wide open.

The spacecraft is currently executing the first of two long orbits prior to beginning its science mission. Each capture orbit is nearly two months long – quite the wait for the mission's eager team of scientists – but it's nothing compared to the long wait the team endured on the trek to Jupiter.

Juno launched on Aug. 5, 2011. The spacecraft took a long, looping path around the inner solar system to set up an Earth flyby, in which our planet's gravity flung the spinning probe onward toward Jupiter.

"For five years we've been focused on getting to Jupiter. Now we're there, and we're concentrating on beginning dozens of flybys of Jupiter to get the science we're after," said Scott Bolton, Juno principal investigator at Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio.

Juno arrived at Jupiter on July 4, firing its main rocket engine as planned for 35 minutes. The flawless maneuver allowed Jupiter's gravity to capture the solar powered spacecraft into the first of two 53.4-day-long orbits, referred to as capture orbits.

Following the capture orbits, Juno will fire its engine once more to shorten its orbital period to 14 days and begin its science mission.

But before that happens, on Aug. 27, Juno must finish its first lap around Jupiter, with a finish line that represents the mission's closest pass over the gas giant. During the encounter, Juno will skim past Jupiter at a mere 2,600 miles above the cloud tops.

Juno's science instruments were turned off during orbit insertion, to simplify spacecraft operations during that critical maneuver.

In contrast, all the instruments will be collecting data during the Aug. 27 pass, which serves as a trial run before the mission gets to work collecting the precious data it came for.

"We're in an excellent state of health, with the spacecraft and all the instruments fully checked out and ready for our first up-close look at Jupiter," said Rick Nybakken, Juno project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California.

With its powerful suite of science instruments, Juno will probe Jupiter's deep structure, atmospheric circulation and the high-energy physics of its magnetic environment.

What Juno finds there will reveal important clues to Jupiter's formation and evolution, along with insights about how our planetary system and others are built.

More information on the Juno mission is available at http://www.nasa.gov/juno . The public can follow the mission on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/NASAJuno and on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/NASAJuno .