NASA Mars Global Surveyor Image of the Week – October 23, 2006

Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera

A Few Good Barchans

MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-1605, 23 October 2006

NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows several small, dark sand dunes and a small crater (about 1 kilometer in diameter) within a much larger crater (not visible in this image). The floor of the larger crater is rough and has been eroded with time. The floor of the smaller crater contains windblown ripples. The steep faces of the dunes point to the east (right), indicating that the dominant winds blew from the west (left). This scene is located near 38.5°S, 347.1°W, and covers an area approximately 3 km (1.9 mi) wide. Sunlight illuminates the landscape from the upper left. This southern autumn image was acquired on 1 July 2006.

Tips for Media Use — Note on discontinuation of “MOC Picture of the Day”

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.