News briefs: April 18. James Martin, the former manager of NASA's Viking missions to Mars, passed away April 14 at the age of 81. Martin served at NASA from 1964 to 1976, working on the Lunar Orbiter and Viking missions, and also worked at Republic Aviation and Martin Marietta. He came out of retirement in 2000 to serve on an independent panel that reviewed NASA's Mars exploration program.[spacetoday.net]

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