NASA Mars Picture of the Day: Spring Defrosting
Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-1089, 12 May 2005
 NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows defrosting south high latitude dunes. In late winter and into the spring season, dark spots commonly form on dunes and other surfaces as seasonal carbon dioxide begins to sublime away. |
Location near: 59.3°S, 343.3°W |
Image width: ~2 km (~1.2 mi) |
Illumination from: upper left |
Season: Southern Spring |
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.
