NASA Mars Picture of the Day: Dunes in Noachis 01-02-2006
Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-1330, 2 January 2006
 NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a portion of a dark sand dune field in a crater in the Noachis Terra region. Martian dunes are darker than their typical terrestrial counterparts because they contain minerals with a higher abundance of iron and magnesium, and somewhat lower amounts of silica. |
Location near: 45.4°S, 331.1°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.
