PIA06332: Caterpillar Dunes
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows some of the rounded, wind-eroded sand dune features in a crater in the southern hemisphere of Mars. For such rounding to occur, the dune sand might need to be somewhat cemented.
 Target Name:  Mars
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) 
 Spacecraft:  Mars Global Surveyor Orbiter
 Instrument:  Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) 
 Product Size:  672 x 1008 pixels (w x h) 
 Produced By:  Malin Space Science Systems 
 Producer ID:  MOC2-771  
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA06332.tif (526.8 kB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA06332.jpg (85.89 kB)  

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Original Caption Released with Image:

28 June 2004
Looking somewhat like caterpillars, this April 2004 Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows some of the rounded, wind-eroded sand dune features in a crater in the southern hemisphere near 61.7°S, 160.3°W. For such rounding to occur, the dune sand might need to be somewhat cemented. The picture covers an area about 3 km (1.9 mi) wide and is illuminated by sunlight from the upper left.

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

Image Addition Date:
2004-06-28