NASA Mars Picture of the Day: Dust-Raising Event 10-16-2003

Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera

MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-515, 16 October 2003

NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

The bright feature near the center-left in this
Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) picture
is a plume of dust being raised by wind on a slope in far
eastern Arabia Terra on February 18, 2001, near 2 p.m. (14:00)
local time. The dark feature immediately below and to the
right of the bright plume is the shadow being cast
by this brief, dust-raising event. The picture is located
near 21.8°N, 175.3°W, and covers an area 3 km
(1.9 mi) wide. The shadow indicates that this scene is
illuminated by sunlight from the upper left.

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.