NASA Mars Picture of the Day: Sand Dunes in Hellas
Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-537, 7 November 2003
![]() NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
The smooth, rounded mounds in this
Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC)
picture are sand dunes. The scene is located in southern
Hellas Planitia and was acquired in mid-southern autumn, the
ideal time of year for Hellas imaging. Sunlight illuminates the
scene from the upper left. These dunes are located
near 49.1°S, 292.6°W. The picture covers
an area 3 km (1.9 mi) wide.
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.