About one of the fathers of modern spectroscopy ...
George Claude Pimentel was born in Central Valley to French parents, grew up in impoverished Los Angeles, and after graduating from high school in 1939, he worked as a chemistry major at UCLA. He graduated in 1943 to join the Manhattan Project at Berkeley. However, when he understood all the implications of the project, he enlisted in the Navy and volunteered to serve on submarines in the hope of hastening the end of the war. In 1946, he returned to Berkeley, where he worked under Kenneth Pitzer. After receiving his doctorate in 1949, he joined the faculty of Berkeley, where he remained an active member until his death.
https://chemistry.berkeley.edu/news/george-claude-pimentel
In the 1950s, George developed a matrix isolation technique to trap free radicals, preventing them from being lost through a chemical reaction and thus enabling spectroscopic examination. Around the world, this technique has led to the discovery of many highly reactive molecules. Infrared spectroscopy also allowed George to advance our understanding of hydrogen bonding, a central element of all biological chemistry.
In the mid-1960s, George's research on rapid reactions revealed the secret of converting chemical energy directly into laser light. Since then, the chemical laser has taught us a lot about chemical reactions and the transfer of energy between molecules. It has also been developed for large and powerful laser systems. In the meantime, George's infrared spectroscopy techniques have proven to be suitable for developing instruments to remotely determine the composition of the atmosphere and surface of Mars. Spectrometers constructed and assembled in his labs gave dramatic results during the Mariners 6 and 7 space missions.
George Pimental was the antithesis of the chair scientist. It was not enough that he invented a key tool for space exploration; in 1967, at the age of 45, he applied to become an astronaut scientist. After the most demanding physical and intellectual tests, the National Academy of Sciences placed him first among about a thousand candidates. Only the discovery of a minor anomaly in one retina prevented him from joining the NASA program. A fellow trainee, who fondly remembers George’s warmth and enthusiasm, recalls that when George was asked how he would react to the prospect of a two-year, risky trip to Mars, the immediate answer was, “Where do I sign up?”
https://chemistry.berkeley.edu/news/george-claude-pimentel
https://mars.nasa.gov/mars-exploration/missions/mariner-6-7/
A few words about the space mission...
Mariner 6 and 7 were the second pair of Mars missions in a series of solar system surveys conducted by NASA in the 1960s and 1970s. Like the other Marines, they each took off on Atlas rockets with either Agena or Centaur boosting thrusters and weighed less than half a ton (without fuel on board).
In 1969, Mariner 6 and Mariner 7 completed their first dual mission to Mars, flying over the equator and south poles, analyzing the atmosphere and surface of Mars with remote sensors, and recording and uploading hundreds of images. By chance, both flew over the craters and missed both the giant northern volcanoes and the Grand Equatorial Canyon, which was later discovered. Their close-up images, however, showed that the dark surface scratches long seen from Earth were not channels, as was once interpreted in the 19th century.
https://web.archive.org/web/20071005010835/http://www.strykfoto.org/mariner69/mariner7.htm
