NASA Mars Picture of the Day: December’s Dunes
Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-1007, 19 February 2005
NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows sand dunes in the north polar region of Mars, as they appeared during northern summer in December 2004. |
Location near: 78.1°N, 227.2°W |
Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) |
Illumination from: lower left |
Season: Northern Summer |
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.