Mars Global Surveyor
Mars Orbiter Camera
Dark Polar Dunes
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-738, 26 May 2004
NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
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NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
The north polar cap of Mars is surrounded by fields of dark sand dunes. This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows several dunes in the north polar region. The winds responsible for them blow from the lower left toward the upper right. The picture is located near 78.6°N, 243.9°W. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the lower left, and the picture covers an area about 3 km (1.9 mi) across.
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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