Mars Global Surveyor
Mars Orbiter Camera
Craters and Bright Dunes of Isidis Planitia
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-91, 12 March 1999
In this first week of Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC)
Mapping operations--i.e., early March 1999--seeing the red planet
at 1.5 meters (5 feet) per pixel
is quite a new and novel experience. This picture covers a 1.5 kilometer
(0.9 miles) wide portion of Isidis Planitia. A person could walk across this
scene in a matter of minutes. That person would encounter a variety
of small, bright dunes that are perhaps only a few meters/yards high.
Careful exploration would also show that the rims of the younger impact
craters have rocks and boulders on them (e.g.,
see crater at center of the picture). Many more images of this quality
and resolution lie ahead for MOC as it begins its 687-day
Mapping mission. In this picture, the Sun's
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