Mars Global Surveyor
Mars Orbiter Camera
Dune and Dust Devil Streaks
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-474, 5 September 2003
NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
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NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
This August 2003 Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) picture shows a dark sand dune on the floor of a crater at 54.9°S, 342.5°W. Recent dust devils have disrupted a thin coating of dust on the otherwise dark dune; these wind phenomena created the plethora of markings and streaks on the dune. The image covers an area 3 km (1.9 mi) across and is illuminated by sunlight from the upper 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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