PIA08492: Ripples and Dunes
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows dark sand dunes on the floor of an impact crater west of Hellas Planitia on Mars. Portions of the crater floor are exposed near the center but, in general, the floor is covered by large, windblown ripples.
 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 1488 pixels (w x h) 
 Produced By:  Malin Space Science Systems 
 Producer ID:  MOC2-1475  
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA08492.tif (1.525 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA08492.jpg (243.3 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:

27 May 2006
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows dark sand dunes on the floor of an impact crater west of Hellas Planitia. Portions of the crater floor are exposed near the center and lower right corner of the image but, in general, the floor is covered by large, windblown ripples. The dark dune sand typically covers ripples, indicating that the dunes are younger and made of a more mobile material.

Location near: 43.7°S, 320.4°W
Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi)
Illumination from: upper left
Season: Southern Summer

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

Image Addition Date:
2006-05-27