A Clear View of Mars

In any telescopic observation of the planets, the first 20 miles are the hardest; the earth's dirty, turbulent atmosphere spoils the view. But last week a balloon-borne, unmanned telescope named Stratoscope II soared above all such standard troubles and took an unobstructed peek at Mars.

Below the gossamer-thin plastic bag that climbed over Palestine, Texas, dangled a 6,300-lb. L-shaped package as bulky as two Cadillacs. It was surely one of the most ungainly-looking loads ever hefted aloft. Designed and built by PerkinElmer Corp. of Norwalk, Conn., it contained a 36-in. mirror that would be a respectable size even for a solid-ground observatory, but that mirror was only the beginning. The telescope was suspended so that it could swing in all directions, under precise control by ground radio. It carried a coarse-vision television camera to act as a finder and pick up guide-stars. As the telescope's 18-ft. tube swung around the heavens, a fine-vision TV camera told operators on the ground what it was seeing. When the telescope was finally locked on target, it kept pointing properly despite the motion of the balloon and the turning of the earth.

Target for the night was Mars, riding ever higher in the sky as the night advanced. After a little guidance trouble, the soaring scope found the planet and focused its concentrated reddish light into a spectrometer that measured infra-red rays, recorded the readings on magnetic tape and transmitted them simultaneously to the ground. After a 12-hr., 700-mile flight, the balloon and telescope landed gently in Tennessee.

When carefully analyzed, Stratoscope's spectroscopic studies should yield new information on the atmosphere and climate of the red planet. Mars has no light of its own. The light that it sends to the earth is sunlight that passes down through the thin Martian atmosphere and is reflected out again. Loss of certain infra-red wave lengths during these two passages will prove the presence of water vapor, carbon dioxide and other interesting, life-supporting constituents.

First quick studies of Stratoscope's data showed that water vapor and CO2 are indeed present, but scarce. Now the data have gone to the University of California for closer analysis, as scientists continue their search for any evidence of the possibility of Martian life.

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