Mars Global Surveyor
Mars Orbiter Camera
Kaiser Dunes
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-667, 16 March 2004
NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
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NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
Kaiser Crater, located in Noachis Terra near 46.5°S, 340.7°W, has some rather large, dark, sand dunes on its floor. Some of the dunes are seen in this February 2004 Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) view. Dark streaks on the dunes were formed by passing springtime and summer dust devils that disrupted a very thin, fine coating of dust on the dunes. The light-toned patch at the upper (north) end of this image is an exposure of the rock that underlies the dune field in Kaiser Crater. This picture covers an area about 3 km (1.9 mi) across. Sunlight illuminates the scene 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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