The first MOC flew on Mars Observer, a spacecraft that was lost before it reached the red planet in 1993. Now, after 14 years of effort, a MOC has finally been placed in the desired mapping orbit. The MOC team's happiness is perhaps best expressed by the planet Mars itself. The picture was taken by the MOC's red and blue wide angle cameras. The bluish-white tone is caused by wintertime frost.
Illumination is from the upper left.
Malin Space Science Systems and the California Institute of Technology built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission.