NASA Mars Picture of the Day: Polygon-Cracked Plain
Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-1159, 21 July 2005
 NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a polygon-cracked plain in the south polar region of Mars. When this picture was acquired in April 2005, the surface was covered with seasonal carbon dioxide frost. Dark spots and streaks indicate areas where the frost had begun to change and sublime away. |
Location near: 86.8°S, 300.5°W |
Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) |
Illumination from: upper left |
Season: Southern Spring |
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.
