Hi all,

I'm trying to find some info on a painting that was available in poster form in Astronomy magazine (probably Astronomy, not S&T) in the very late 1970's or early 1980's. It was of an abandoned Viking lander on Mars, half-buried in dust. The picture was part of a 1-2 page ad for astronomy art that was available as posters or lithographs.

If you have any memory of it, please post or drop me a PM.

Thanks!
Jeff

I remember that picture! It was definitely ASTRONOMY magazine, and I think it was a painting by Michael Carroll, titled something like "Viking 25,000AD" or something like that. It showed a rather wrecked looking Viking with dust piled up against one side of it, beneath a starry blue-black sky. I actually used to use it in my Outreach talks many, many years ago, when I used slides instead of Powerpoint, that's how long ago we're talking. But I thought it was used to illustrate an article about changes on Mars, and the legacy of Viking, not space art? I might be wrong about that tho.

I remember it too- it would have been 1980 or 1981, my first year or so of graduate school. It had quite an impact, with its implied suggestion that our exploration of the solar system might be just a brief episode of human history, never to be followed up.

John

That is spooky - - I was just thinking of that same picture the other day.
It is from the early 80s and the POV is from a few yards in front of the lander, near the ground looking slightly up. It looks to be near Sunset, Viking 1 is half buried in the encroaching sand, one leg collapsed so the lander is listing to the left, the antenna dish eaten away is places and dangling, other panels and parts off in the dirt or hanging. I agree with John that the intent was to spur us on to explore, to continue the adventure, or this is what Viking's fate will be in the distant future -- now where did I put that picture?

I though it was Michael Carroll as well. He has some stuff on the web but not that picture. He has a website at:

http://stock-space-images.com/

You might contact him about it.

Phil

Jeez, and all this time I thought I was the only one that remembered that painting. It definitely had impact.

I unfortunately don't know which poster you are talking about but perusing the listing at Academic OneFile, it looks like it could be linked to an article titled, "NASA budget cuts hit space science." from 8.(June 1980): pp58 and another titled "U.S. lagging in space exploration and technology" from 8.(May 1980): pp58. Its a start I suppose. Unfortunately, I only have access to 1988 on up online but I can check my uni library later today or tomorrow and grab a scan if you'd like?

Edit: Also possibly
-Title:Space science budget slashed. (Reagan budget seriously threatens U.S. non-military space program) 9.(May 1981): pp58(1).

And I realize this was an ad so it may not be anywhere around these but these were the issues that had articles pertaining to that topic.

Thanks, folks! I have been thinking about making a little diorama of Sojourner using the 'buried in dust' concept of that painting. Wanted to try to find at least a low-Rez image for inspiration. It's nice to know that it affected so many others. I'll find Mr. Carroll and see if he's got an image of it.

Thanks again,
Jeff

Mr. Carroll got back to me already; he very courteously said he admired that painting, and believes it was painted by Bruce Bond. A quick look didn't yield any results, and I'll keep poking around.

Jeff

Wreckage and dust aside, I wonder what the latest thinking is on how Mars will be in 25,000 AD - is
the obliquity appreciably different ? - would the atmospheric pressure be higher or lower (lower would
make sky blue-black even in daytime, perhaps).. Phobos a bit lower too...