NASA Mars Picture of the Day: Dark Sand Dunes 01-13-2005

Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera

MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-970, 13 January 2005

NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC)
image shows dark sand dunes in the north polar region
of Mars. The dominant winds responsible for these dunes
blew from the lower left (southwest). They are located
near 76.6°N, 257.2°W. The picture covers an
area 3 km (1.9 mi) across; sunlight illuminates the
scene from the upper right.

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.