The martian southern hemisphere was nearly two months into its spring season when this newly-released picture was taken by the Mars Global Surveyor's Mars Orbiter Camera on September 25, 1999. The scene covers a vast, frost-coated plain south of the martian antarctic circle. The icy terrain in the image has an almost pastel-like character, owing to the mixture of reddish dust both on, in, and under the white frost. One martian year is about 687 Earth days long, thus each of the planet's four seasons are nearly twice as long as seasons on Earth. The dark spot near the center of the image has no name, and its origin is unknown.
Sunlight illuminates the scene 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. A Lockheed Martin Athena 1 will launch the Kodiak Star mission for NASA and the Air Force no sooner than Saturday from Kodiak Island, Alaska. Visit the Tracking Station for a full listing of upcoming launches.