NASA Mars Picture of the Day: South Polar Autumn 03-18-2006
Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-1405, 18 March 2006
 NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
| This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a portion of the south polar residual cap. The darkened edges of the pits and mesas are evidence of the removal—by sublimation—of frozen carbon dioxide during the recent martian summer. Summer ended and autumn began in January 2006, shortly before this image was acquired. |
| Location near: 86.8°S, 90.5°W |
| Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) |
| Illumination from: upper left |
| Season: Southern Summer |
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.
