[meteorite-list] Mars Global Surveyor Adds Thousand Of Photos To Mars Album

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:10:03 2004
Message-ID: <200304041745.JAA15247_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

Donald Savage
Headquarters, Washington April 4, 2003
(Phone: 202/358-1547)

Guy Webster
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
(Phone: 818/354-0880)

RELEASE: 03-133

PROLIFIC NASA ORBITER ADDS THOUSANDS OF PHOTOS TO MARS ALBUM

The winds of Mars leave their marks on many of the
11,664 new pictures being posted on the Internet today by the
camera team for NASA's Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) mission.

In one image the pattern of sand dunes on a patch of
southern-hemisphere desert resembles scales on a fish. On a
larger scale, full-globe Mars images show wispy water ice
clouds shaped by winds as the seasons change. Other new
images reveal details of features such as gullies, landslides
and seasonal frost.

The new batch, taken between February and July 2002, brings
the total number of images in the online gallery to more than
123,800.

MGS has been orbiting the red planet since Sept. 12, 1997.
The mission has examined the entire Mars surface and provided
a wealth of information about the planet's atmosphere and
interior. Evaluation of landing sites for two Mars
Exploration Rover missions, due to launch in the next three
months, has relied heavily on mineral mapping, detailed
imagery and topographic measurements by Global Surveyor.

"The extraordinary wealth of information contained in this
unprecedented release of new views of Mars attests to the
ongoing scientific value of the reconnaissance of Mars that
has been provided by the Mars Global Surveyor for the past
five years," said Dr. James B. Garvin, NASA's Lead Scientist
for Mars Exploration, at NASA Headquarters, Washington.

"Indeed, there remain new discoveries to be made about the
history of water, climate variability, and character of
future landing sites from the continuing flow of images,
spectra, and related measurements from the Global Surveyor,"
Garvin continued. "Without the new perspectives provided by
MGS, the critical scientific and engineering assessment of
potential landing sites for the Mars Exploration Rovers would
not have been possible," he said.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, Calif.,
manages the mission for NASA's Office of Space Science,
Washington. JPL is a division of the California Institute of
Technology in Pasadena. JPL's industrial partner is Lockheed
Martin Astronautics (LMA), Denver. LMA developed and operates
the spacecraft. The Mars Orbiter Camera is operated by Malin
Space Science Systems, San Diego.

The images are available on the Internet from the Mars
Orbiter Camera Gallery at:

http://www.msss.com/moc_gallery

Additional information about the Mars Global Surveyor is
available on the Internet at:

http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mgs/

For more information about NASA and other space science
programs on the Internet, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov


-end-
Received on Fri 04 Apr 2003 12:45:46 PM PST