NASA Mars Picture of the Day: Lonely Barchans
Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-1390, 3 March 2006
 NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows two barchan dunes in the north polar region of Mars. The orientation of the dunes, with the steep faces pointed toward the southeast (lower right), indicates that the winds responsible for their formation blew from the northwest (upper left). At the time this image was acquired by MOC, the dunes and surrounding plains were covered by seasonal carbon dioxide frost. |
Location near: 73.8°N, 40.8°W |
Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) |
Illumination from: lower left |
Season: Northern Winter |
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.
