PIA05279: South Polar Scene
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows
 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 1536 pixels (w x h) 
 Produced By:  Malin Space Science Systems 
 Producer ID:  MOC2-627  
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA05279.tif (1.423 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA05279.jpg (185.6 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:

5 February 2004
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a portion of the south polar residual cap. Sunlight illuminates this scene from the upper left, thus the somewhat kidney bean-shaped features are pits, not mounds. These pits and their neighboring polygonal cracks are formed in a material composed mostly of carbon dioxide ice. The image is located near 87.0°S, 5.7°W, and covers an area 3 km (1.9 mi) wide.

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

Image Addition Date:
2004-02-05