30,000 NEW MARS IMAGES ARE NOW AVAILABLE ON THE WEB

Subject: 30,000 new Mars images are now on web
From: JPLNews@jpl.nasa.gov

The imaging team of NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft has doubled the number of Mars pictures available to the public with the release of a new archive of red planet pictures totalling slightly more than 30,000 images.

The archive contains all the pictures that were taken by Mars Global Surveyor from September 1999 through February 2000 and includes the images that were taken to search for the Mars Polar Lander spacecraft. No evidence of the lander was ever seen. The archive also covers the period of south polar cap retreat through southern spring and into early summer. This includes changes observed on the south polar cap's "Swiss cheese" surfaces, among others.

The full gallery of 30,000 images is available at

http://www.msss.com/moc_gallery
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mgs

A sample of images is available at

Mars Global Surveyor was launched on November 7, 1996 and entered orbit around Mars on September 12, 1997. The spacecraft has been systematically mapping the red planet since March 1999.

Mars Global Surveyor is managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The camera system was built and is operated by Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, Calif.  JPL's industrial partner is Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, Colo., which developed and operates the spacecraft.  JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.