NASA Mars Picture of the Day: Defrosting Sand 09-03-2005
Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-1202, 2 September 2005
 NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a patch of frost-covered, dark sand that, at the time the picture was acquired in June 2005, had begun to defrost. The frost is carbon dioxide. Dunes and other patches of sand are usually the first polar features to develop dark spots as the frost begins to sublime away. |
Location near: 78.9°S, 80.2°W |
Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) |
Illumination from: upper left |
Season: Southern Spring |
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.
