Mars Global Surveyor
Mars Orbiter Camera

Large, Bright Wind Ripples

MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-397, 20 June 2003


NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows large, relatively bright ripples of windblown sediment in the Sinus Sabaeus region south of Schiaparelli Basin. The surrounding substrate is thickly mantled by very dark material, possibly windblown silt that settled out of the atmosphere. The picture is located near 7.1°S, 343.7°W. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the left.

Malin Space Science Systems and the California Institute of Technology built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission. MSSS operates the camera from its facilities in San Diego, California. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars Surveyor Operations Project operates the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena, California and Denver, Colorado.

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