Mars Global Surveyor
Mars Orbiter Camera

Dunes on a Ridge

MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-904, 8 November 2004


NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a group of small, dark sand dunes trapped along an arcuate ridge. The ridge probably marks the location of a partially-buried, eroded, and filled meteor crater. The dunes are located in Noachis Terra near 45.1°S, 322.0°W. The image covers an area approximately 3 km (1.9 mi) across and is illuminated by sunlight from the upper left.

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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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