NASA Mars Picture of the Day: Summer South Polar Cap 01-26-2004

Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera

MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-617, 26 January 2004

NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

This January 2004 Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC)
image shows what the martian south polar residual cap looks
like in the middle of summer. Sunlight illuminates the scene from
the top/upper left. The picture shows mesas composed of frozen
carbon dioxide, each about 2-5 meters (6-16 ft.) high. Sunlight
has darkened the slopes around the mesas as carbon dioxide
sublimes away throughout the summer.
The image is located
near 86.2°S, 351.4°W, and 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.