Mars Global Surveyor
Mars Orbiter Camera
Intracrater Dunes
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-984, 27 January 2005
NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
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NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a portion of a field of dark sand dunes on the floor of an unnamed crater in western Arabia Terra near 7.3°N, 353.4°W. The dominant winds responsible for the movement of sand through this system blows almost directly north to south (top to bottom). The image covers an area about 3 km (1.9 mi) wide, 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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