NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows dark sand dunes in Arkhangelsky Crater, named for A. D. Arkhangelsky (1879–1940), an influential, early Russian geologist. The steepest slopes on these dunes, their slip faces, point toward the northeast (upper right), indicating formative winds from the southwest. |
Location near: 41.3°S, 25.0°W |
Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) |
Illumination from: upper left |
Season: Southern Autumn |
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.