Status Report

NASA Mars Picture of the Day: Galle Scene

By SpaceRef Editor
July 26, 2004
Filed under , , ,

Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera

MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-799, 26 July 2004




NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC)
image shows a scene in southern Galle Crater, otherwise
known as
Happy Face Crater.
At the north end of the image (toward top, center)
is a gully that formed on a slope. At the south end (bottom)
is a series of dark sand dunes that have been crisscrossed
by dust devils. The dust devils left behind tell-tale streaks.
This image is located
near 51.9°S, 31.6°W, and is
illuminated by sunlight from the upper left. The
image covers an area about 3 km (1.9 mi) wide.

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.

SpaceRef staff editor.