NASA Mars Picture of the Day: Polar Polygons 08-19-2005
Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-1187, 18 August 2005
 NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows dark-outlined polygons on a frost-covered surface in the south polar region of Mars. In summer, this surface would not be bright and the polygons would not have dark outlines–these are a product of the presence of seasonal frost. |
Location near: 77.2°S, 204.8°W |
Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 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.
