Mars Global Surveyor
Mars Orbiter Camera
Frosted Southern Plains in Early Spring
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-251, 16 October 2000
The martian southern hemisphere was nearly 2 months into its spring
season when this picture was taken by the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS)
Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) on September 25, 1999. The scene covers a
vast, frost-coated plain south of the martian antarctic circle. The
icy terrain in the image has an almost pastel-like character, owing to
the mixture of reddish dust both on, in, and under the white
frost. The frost--mostly frozen water at this time of year--is left
over from winter, which ended August 2, 1999. One martian year is
about 687 Earth days long, thus each of the planet's four seasons are
nearly twice as long as seasons on Earth. The largest crater in the
upper left is Lau Crater, named for the Danish astronomer, Hans E. Lau
(1879-1918). The dark spot near the center of the image has no name,
and its origin is unknown. The picture covers an area about 1,020 km
(634 mi) across by approximately 1,240 km (771 mi) down. The center is
located near 76°S, 97°W, and north is toward the upper
right. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the upper left. This is a
color composite of M07-04748 (red) and M07-04749 (blue) wide angle MOC
images. To see what the raw MOC image data look like, visit the newest
data releases (for Mission Subphases M07 - M12, covering September
1999 through February 2000) in the MOC GALLERY at http://www.msss.com/moc_gallery/.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems
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.
To MSSS Home Page
