|
 |
 advertisement
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Mars Global Surveyor Snaps Record 100,000th Picture of Red Planet
posted: 07:29 am ET
21 November 2001
|
Untitled DocumentPASADENA, California (AP) _ A NASA spacecraft has taken its 100,000th picture of Mars, far eclipsing the photographic bounty returned by any other mission to the Red Planet.  Scientists received the image from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor on Nov. 5, nearly five years to the day after the robotic satellite was launched. No other spacecraft has taken as many pictures of Mars.
NASA's twin Viking orbiters have come the closest, returning a total of about 55,000 images of the planet between 1975 and 1980. The new black-and-white digital image shows a mile-wide (1.6- kilometer-wide) portion of a valley north of Olympus Mons, the largest known volcano in the solar system. The valley floor is covered by windblown dunes, a common sight on Mars. Its slopes show dark streaks where debris has slid downward. The image is fairly hazy, due to the aftereffects of a dust storm that engulfed the entire planet between July and October. NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey, another unmanned satellite, joined Global Surveyor in orbit around Mars in October. It will begin its science work in February. Right: The 100,000th MGS image
CREDIT: NASA/MGS/MSSS
More MGS images SPECIAL REPORT: Full Coverage of the Odyssey Mission to Mars
|
|
|
|
|
