NASA Mars Picture of the Day: North Polar Scene

Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera

MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-912, 16 November 2004

NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

This 1.6 meters (~5 feet) per pixel
Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC)
image shows a typical north polar scarp and associated
dark, windblown sand dunes. Layers of material–possibly
dust and ice–are exposed by the scarp. The small white
patches in the image are remnants of seasonal frost.
When this north polar image was acquired in late
September 2004, most of the polar frost had
sublimed away. This image is located
near 85.1°N, 210.8°W. The scene
covers an area approximately 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.