NASA Mars Picture of the Day: Large Ripples in Cerberus

Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera

MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-730, 18 May 2004

NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

Mars is a desert planet, upon which wind has a
great influence on the expression of its surface materials.
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC)
image shows large ripples (or small dunes)
of windblown sediment among
hills in the southeastern Cerberus region
near 11.0°N, 199.5°W. Ripple orientations vary
throughout the scene, indicating that dominant winds are
influenced by the interplay of wind and local topographic
features such as craters and hills.
The picture covers an area about 3 km (1.9 mi) across and
is illuminated by sunlight from the left/lower 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.