![]() NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
Hundreds of large ripples or small dunes cover the landscape in the Terra Tyrrhena region of Mars in this Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image. The winds responsible for these dunes blew from the north-northwest (top/upper left). This scene is located near 8.8°S, 252.8°W, and covers an area about 3 km (1.9 mi) wide. Sunlight illuminates the terrain 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.