Report of the Viking Inorganic Chemical Analysis Team: Introductory statement

The first of the three papers comprising this report [Clark et al., 1977] deals with the elemental analysis of Martian samples collected during the primary Viking mission (July 20, 1976–November 15, 1976) and the early part of the extended Viking mission (November 16, 1976–March 31, 1977). Calibration, operation, and data reduction are therein described in sufficient detail to give the reader a basis for understanding the significance of the results reported here and previously [Clark et al., 1976a, b, Baird et al., 1976; Toulmin et al., 1976].