Mars Global Surveyor
Mars Orbiter Camera
Crater and Wind Streak
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-461, 23 August 2003
NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
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NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a crater with a bright wind streak in southern Acidalia Planitia. The streak is mostly likely a very thin coating of dust. The orientation of the streak indicates that the winds responsible for its formation and maintenance came from the northeast (upper right) and blew toward the lower left (southwest). The crater is located near 24.8°N, 39.1°W. The image covers an area 3 km (1.9 mi) wide. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the lower 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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