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Mars Global Surveyor
Mars Orbiter Camera

Work of the Wind

MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-1346, 18 January 2006

Medium-sized view of MGS MOC Picture of the Day, updated daily
NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a few dark wind streaks in the lee—the downwind side—of shallow craters on a lava- and dust-covered plain in eastern Tharsis. Streaks in east Tharsis, such as these, are usually very superficial features that change on timescales as quickly as a few weeks to months as very thin coatings of dust are redistributed by the wind.
Location near: 2.4°N, 95.6°W
Image width: ~1 km (~0.6 mi)
Illumination from: lower left
Season: Northern Winter


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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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