Media Information

 
 
 
Collection:
NASA Planetary Photo Journal Collection
Title:
Early MOC Global Color Mosaics
Original Caption Released with Image:
These two images are synthetic views of Mars made by combining Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) wide angle images from several orbits during the first week of March 1999--during MOC's focus and calibration testing period. The blue and red lines are the edges of the original pictures. Views such as these will be used throughout the MGS Mapping Mission to characterize the changing weather patterns on Mars. Right now, it is northern hemisphere summer on Mars, and the north polar ice cap can be seen at the top of each image.

In the view on the left, thick blue-white afternoon water ice clouds can be seen surrounding and obscuring the northern-most of the large volcanoes of the Tharsis Montes region (left), and clouds can also be seen over Lunae Planum (center) and Chryse Planitia (center right).

In the right image, faint clouds are seen over Arabia (center left bright region) with somewhat thicker clouds seen over Syrtis Major (dark, triangular region toward the right). Very thick southern winter clouds can be seen "ponded" within the Hellas Basin near the bottom of the frame.

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.
Addition Date:
2000-09-16
Image Credit:
NASA/JPL/MSSS
Produced By:
Malin Space Science Systems
Mission:
Mars Global Surveyor (MGS)
Spacecraft:
Mars Global Surveyor Orbiter
Target Name:
Mars
Is a satellite of:
Sol (our sun)
Instrument:
Mars Orbiter Camera
Product Size:
1512 samples x 828 lines
Primary Data Set:
MGS EDRs
Producer ID:
MOC2-86
facet_what:
Sun
facet_what:
Polar
facet_what:
Mars
facet_what:
Surveyor
facet_what:
Mars Observer
facet_what:
Mars Global Surveyor Orbiter (MGS)
facet_what:
Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC)
facet_where:
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
facet_where:
Denver
facet_where:
Mars
facet_where:
California
facet_where:
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
facet_when:
March 1999
facet_when_year:
1999
Image #:
PIA01673
UID:
SPD-PHOTJ-PIA01673
orignial url:

Early MOC Global Color Mosaics