NASA Mars Picture of the Day: Mars at Ls 145 degrees 01-18-2005

Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera

MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-975, 18 January 2005

NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

This picture is a composite of
Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC)
daily global images acquired at Ls 145° during
a previous Mars year. This month, Mars looks
similar, as Ls 145° occurred in mid-January 2005.

This picture shows the Syrtis Major
face of Mars. Over the course of the month, additional faces
of Mars as it appears at this time of year are being posted
for MOC Picture of the Day.

Ls, solar longitude,
is a measure of the time of year on Mars. Mars
travels 360° around the Sun in 1 Mars year. The
year begins at Ls 0°–the start of northern
spring and southern summer.
In January 2005, it is
northern summer and southern winter.
The seasons on Mars occur according to Ls,
described in the following table:

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.