Mars Global Surveyor
Mars Orbiter Camera
Sand Dunes of Nili Patera, Syrtis Major
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-88, 11 March 1999
This dramatic image shows a field of dark sand dunes in the Nili Patera
region of Syrtis Major. The shapes of these dunes indicate that wind has
been steadily transporting the dark sand from the right/upper right
toward the lower left. This picture was taken on the first day of the
MGS Mapping Phase during
the second week of March 1999. It shows an area 2.1 kilometers (1.3
miles) wide at the full commanded resolution of 3 meters per pixel.
Illumination is from the upper left.
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,
CA. 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, CA
and Denver, CO.
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Contact: info@msss.com