NASA Mars Picture of the Day: Rippled Valley Floor
Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-1215, 15 September 2005
![]() NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a ripple-covered valley floor in the Hyblaeus Fossae region. Winds blowing up and down the length of the valley have helped to concentrate windblown grains to form these large, megaripples. |
Location near: 26.3°N, 225.1°W |
Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) |
Illumination from: lower left |
Season: Northern Autumn |
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.