PIA03005: Huygens Wind Streak
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows the results of wind action on the floor of the giant martian impact basin, Huygens. The large crater in this image has a wind streak on its lee side.
 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:  1024 x 3441 pixels (w x h) 
 Produced By:  Malin Space Science Systems 
 Producer ID:  MOC2-1219  
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA03005.tif (3.527 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA03005.jpg (588 kB)  

Click on the image above to download a moderately sized image in JPEG format (possibly reduced in size from original)

Original Caption Released with Image:

19 September 2005
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows the results of wind action on the floor of the giant martian impact basin, Huygens. The large crater in this image has a wind streak on its lee side, pointing toward the lower right (southeast). Usually, a light-toned wind streak behind a crater on Mars will be composed of a thin veneer of dust that the wind was not able to erode because it was protected by the presence of the crater's raised rims. In this case, the streak is caused by something different -- by the fact that dark, windblown sand has not been able to accumulate behind the crater.

Location near: 13.0°S, 303.7°W
Image width: width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi)
Illumination from: lower left
Season: Southern Spring

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

Image Addition Date:
2005-09-19