Take a flight over the surface of Mars

Artist's concept of the Mars Global Surveyor

(CNN) -- Ever imagined what Mars would like from an orbiting spacecraft? NASA this week released a short Y2K Mars "movie," composed of images snapped by a camera onboard the Mars Global Surveyor.

The spectacular footage offers a glimpse of the red planet near the south pole as clocks on Earth struck midnight, January 1, 2000, in the time zone that includes Mexico City and Chicago.

The bright white/pink surfaces in the movie are the martian south polar cap, where it was early summer as the Earth's new century arrived. The martian atmosphere is hazy and pink with particles kicked up by dust storms that occur along the margin of the retreating seasonal frost cap.

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Mars Y2K QuickTime   3 MB/ 40 sec. Play

Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego, California, operates the Mars Orbiter Camera, which captured the images.