NASA Mars Picture of the Day: Martian Sand Dunes

Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera

MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-963, 6 January 2005

NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

The north polar cap of Mars is nearly surrounded by fields
of dark, windblown sand dunes.
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC)
image shows an example located
near 73.5°N, 75.0°W.
The orientation of these dunes indicate that the
dominant winds–particularly those that occur during storms–come
from the upper left (northwest).
The picture covers an area about 3 km (1.9 mi) across,
and is illuminated by sunlight from the lower 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.