NASA Mars Picture of the Day: Stokes Crater Dunes
Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-1083, 6 May 2005
 NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows dark-toned sand dunes on the floor of Stokes Crater, located on the martian northern plains. The steepest slopes on the dunes indicate the direction of sand transport; the winds responsible for these dunes generally blow from the north/northeast (top/upper right). |
Location near: 55.9°N, 188.6°W |
Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) |
Illumination from: lower left |
Season: Northern 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.
