Soffen, Gerald Alan

▪ 2001

      American biologist (b. Feb. 7, 1926, Cleveland, Ohio—d. Nov. 22, 2000, Washington, D.C.), was the chief scientist for the Viking 1 and 2 missions to Mars. After earning a Ph.D. in biology from Princeton University in 1961, Soffen joined the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. He became the driving force behind NASA's efforts to search for life on Mars. He was disappointed when the Viking space probes, after landing on the surface of Mars in 1976, did not detect any signs of life on the planet, but he speculated that Martian life should not be ruled out completely until it was possible to explore all of the areas of Mars where evidence of water had been found. In 1983 Soffen went to work at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., and in 1990 he formed Goddard's University Programs Office to help strengthen the relationship between NASA's research groups and the academic community.

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