PDS logoPlanetary Data System
PDS Information
Find a Node - Use these links to navigate to any of the 8 publicly accessible PDS Nodes.

This bar indicates that you are within the PDS enterprise which includes 6 science discipline nodes and 2 support nodes which are overseen by the Project Management Office at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). Each node is led by an expert in the subject discipline, supported by an advisory group of other practitioners of that discipline, and subject to selection and approval under a regular NASA Research Announcement.
Click here to return to the Photojournal Home Page Click here to view a list of Photojournal Image Galleries Photojournal_inner_header
Latest Images  |  Spacecraft & Technology  |  Animations  |  Space Images App  |  Feedback  |  Photojournal Search  

PIA06840: Sand Sheet and Dunes
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows a field of dunes and a relatively flat sand sheet in a crater on Mars. Most southern high latitude dune fields occur on the floors of impact craters, and many of them are eroded into rounded or flattened forms.
 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 3419 pixels (w x h) 
 Produced By:  Malin Space Science Systems 
 Producer ID:  MOC2-833  
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA06840.tif (2.613 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA06840.jpg (311.4 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:

29 August 2004
Most southern high latitude dune fields occur on the floors of impact craters, and many of them are eroded into rounded or flattened forms. This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a field of dunes (southern half of image) and a relatively flat sand sheet (northern half of image) in a crater located near 63.9°S, 95.9°W. Wind transport of sand was from the right toward left (east to west). Dark streaks superimposed on the dunes are the tracks made by passing dust devils. 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:
2004-08-29