The North Pole Of Mars
Explanation:
The North Pole of Mars
is capped by layers
likely consisting of ice and dust deposited over millions of years.
Imaged on September 12 -
early Spring for Northern Mars -
by the Mars Global Surveyor's camera,
this synthesized wide-angle color view
shows the rippled, eroded polar terrain covered with pinkish
seasonal carbon dioxide frost.
Dark areas bordering the polar cap are
fields of sand dunes.
This is the last picture scheduled
to be taken by Surveyor's camera
until it resumes operation in late March 1999.
Over the past year of operation,
the camera has taken about 2,000
pictures of Mars.
Meanwhile,
the spacecraft will begin its second round of
aerobraking to achieve
a circularized martian mapping
orbit.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
