NASA Mars Picture of the Day: North Polar Dune Patterns

Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera

MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-478, 9 September 2003

NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

Dark, windblown sand forms spectacular geometric patterns
in the north polar sand seas, particularly in regions where
strong winds converge from different directions over the
course of a year. This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter
Camera (MOC) picture shows some of these dark dune patterns
near 77.8°N, 284.4°W. The picture
covers an area 3 km (1.9 mi) across and
is illuminated by sunlight from the 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.