Mars Global Surveyor: The Mission


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Orbiter Update

16-Apr-2007

Water-lain Sedimentary Rock on Mars

Two sets of water-lain sedimentary rock units show how sediments were deposited long before the material became rock.

More at MSSS

13-Apr-2007

Internal Review Board Findings

After nearly a decade of discovery, MGS went silent in November 2006 due to battery failure caused by a complex sequence of events involving the onboard computer memory and ground commanding.

Press Release
MGS Loss of Contact (PDF)
Important Discoveries

06-Dec-2006

Signs of Recent Water on Mars

New gullies, evidence of Mars' dynamic nature, suggest that water has recently flowed on the surface.

Press Release
JPL Podcast
Audio Clips
All Gully Related Press Images
All Impact Related Press Images

07-Nov-2006

Mars Orbiter Camera Celebrates 10 Years in Space with a Polar View

Color view of martian north polar cap and two nearby, white, circular cloud formations.

To commemorate its decade in space and over 240,000 images returned, the Mars Orbiter Camera on Mars Global Surveyor offers a stunning image of clouds swirling elegantly above the Martian north pole.

Ten years of studying the red planet has enabled the science team to observe daily and long-term weather patterns, providing the first up-close studies and a deeper understanding of the Martian climate system, one of the four main science goals of the Mars Exploration Program. More at the Mars Orbiter Camera site.

11-Aug-2006

Mars Global Surveyor Celebrates Discovery of Deimos

This picture shows two versions of one image. The tiny moon looks like a small, round potato with an uneven surface and imperfect circular shape. The bottom left of the moon has a sharp diagonal edge. The image has a deep, dark black background, and the moon is dark grey and white, centered in the middle of both images. The right image includes two words and arrows that point to craters on the surface of the moon named 'Swift' and 'Voltaire.'

Deimos was discovered 129 years ago on August 11, 1877. To celebrate, the MGS team presents the first and only Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image of this tiny moon.

View full caption at MSSS site

03-Jan-2006

MGS locates Spirit

Shortly before Spirit's Martian anniversary, the Mars Orbiter Camera acquired an image centered on the rover's location at that time in the "Columbia Hills."

12-Sep-2005

Happy 8th Birthday, MGS

This collage of four images (two on top and two on bottom) shows the same north polar region of Mars, each with nearly the exact size and white coloring of the north pole ice cap and a white wispy, circular cloud to the right of each ice cap.Ê Underneath the white ice caps and clouds, the surface of each image is light brown, and each image has wording beneath the image as a caption to denote what day and year and where the image was taken.Ê The dates are April 1999, March 2001, January 2003, and November 2004.Ê The images basically look identical, except the first image looks like it has been blurred, and the last image is slightly duller in color.

Mars Global Surveyor wins the title of the oldest spacecraft currently in operation at Mars! The spacecraft's lasting success has enabled scientists to capture repeating weather phenomena and new, fresh insights revealing Mars as an active planet.