Mars Observer
Mars Observer Camera (MOC)

• The Mars Observer mission was initially funded in 1984.
• Mars Observer was launched September 25, 1992.
• The spacecraft was lost on August 21, 1993, just three days before the planned Mars Orbit Insertion.
• The Mars Observer Camera (MOC) was originally proposed to NASA in 1985, and selected in 1986.
• After the Mars Observer failure, a new MOC was built for Mars Global Surveyor. The second MOC reached the red planet in September 1997, and continues to this day to return new images from Mars.
  
  
• MSSS Connection: MSSS fabricated and operated the Camera on Mars Observer. MSSS President, Michael C. Malin, was the Principal Investigator.

• MOC-1 Image Archive

• Information on the Loss of Mars Observer in 1993

• Mars Observer MOC Operations Animation

• MOC Fact Sheet (99 KByte GIF image)

• Pre-launch Papers Describing MOC Investigation

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