PIA05706: South Polar Dunes
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows a small patch of dark, windblown sand in the martian south polar region of Mars.
 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:  836 x 2227 pixels (w x h) 
 Produced By:  Malin Space Science Systems 
 Producer ID:  MOC2-683  
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA05706.tif (1.587 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA05706.jpg (171.8 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:

1 April 2004
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a small patch of dark, windblown sand in the martian south polar region. Throughout the south high latitudes, dark sand has been trapped by wind in craters, pits, and depressions. This example is located near 64.5°S, 9.5°W. The image covers an area about 3 km (1.9 mi) across. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the upper left.

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

Image Addition Date:
2004-04-01