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.
 | VIDEO |
|
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.
RELATED STORIES:
'Think Mars:' Online petition urges manned mission December 28, 1999
RELATED SITES:
Mars Polar Lander: Official Web site
Deep Space 2
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Mars Pathfinder
Mars Meteorite home page
Planetary Society
Mars Society
The Nine Planets: Mars
Note: Pages will open in a new browser window
External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.
|