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San Diego - July 26, 2000 - Another spring has "sprung" in the northern hemisphere of Mars! Northern spring began in June 2000, and as we approach August 2000, sunlight is now illuminating most of the north polar cap each day. This is the second northern spring that MOC has viewed--we've now seen, in selected areas, a full Mars year of atmospheric and surface conditions.
Although the pictures do not cover the exact same area, pictures from exactly two Earth years ago (26 July 1998) show very similar features in the north circum-polar dune field (see Spring Time View of North Polar Sand Dunes).
At this time, frost left-over from the recent winter is slowly subliming away to expose underlying northern plains and sand dune surfaces.
The picture above shows a frost-covered portion of the vast dune fields that surround the north polar cap as they appeared on July 22, 2000. In summer, the dunes are dark, but in winter and early spring they are covered with bright frost.
Small dark spots and streaks indicate areas where the frost has begun to dissappear. This Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera image covers an area 2.3 km (1.4 mi) wide by 7.7 km (4.8 mi) long near 78�N, 107�W and is illuminated from the lower left.
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 Snow melt on the dunes of Northern Mars - Images Credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS |
Imaging Resumes After Solar Conjunction
San Diego - July 16, 2000 - Many aspects of our studies of Mars from Earth are dictated by the different rates at which the two planets orbit the Sun. This difference allows Earth to pass Mars in its orbit, continue to lead Mars around the Sun, and then eventually overtake Mars again, every 26 months.
A Solar Conjunction period has just ended, during which this time communications from MGS were interrupted for a few weeks with the Mars Orbiter Camera turned off on June 21, 2000, and turned back on again July 13, 2000.
The picture shown here was among the very first high resolution views of the martain surface that were received following the resumed operation of the MOC. Both pictures arrived July 15, 2000.
 This image shows the layered northeastern wall of a meteor impact crater in Noachis Terra at 32.9�S, 357.6�W. Both pictures cover an area 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) wide at a resolution of 6 meters per pixel - All images this page are credited to NASA, JPL and Malin Space Science Systems |
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Mars Image Library Opens