Category: The Black Star Collection
Object Type: photograph
Agency: NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION (NASA)
Title: [Looking down on the north pole of Mars. Mariner 9 took this picture (above) on October 12 as it made its 668th orbit of the planet]
Event Date: 1972-11-02
Medium: gelatin silver print
Dimensions: approximately: 8 x 10 inches; 20.32 x 25.4 cm
Accession Number: BS.2005.236753

Inscriptions:
Recto, [no inscriptions]; Verso, handwritten: Astronomy-Space; typed: OFFICE OF PUBLIC INFORMATION / JET PROPULSION LABORATORY / CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY / NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATTON / PASADENA, CALIFORNIA. TELEPHONE 213-354-5011; stamped: EAST LONG.; stamped: NEGS NOT IN FILE; typed: TOP / PHOTO CAPTION P-13488 / FOR RELEASE: A. M. S' OF THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 1972 / Looking down on the north pole of Mars, Mariner 9 took this picture (above) / on October 12 as it made its 668th orbit of the planet. Transmitted from / the spacecraft to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory the following day, the picture / shows the polar cap at its minimum extant -- about 1000 kilometers (620 miles) / across. The curved patterns in the interior of the frost cover are formed on / outward facing slopes receiving more direct sunlight than the flat areas and / defrosting earlier. The various shades of gray correspond to surfaces of very / bright carbon dioxide and, perhaps, water ice, and bright and dark rock debris. / The spiral pattern and the eroded channel running fron the cap center toward / lower right are characteristic of the layered sedimentary complex localized / in the central regions of both poles. A dark collar of roughly textured / terrain surrounds the central polar deposits. The owlish countenance of Mars / (below) is a high-resolution picture also taken on October 12 of the area/ inscribed above. Covering an area about 150 by 200 kilometars (90 by 125 / miles) and located at 74° N. Lat., 14° W. Long., the photo shows a complex / collection of albedos and textures typifying the kinds of geological evolu- / tlon in Mars' north polar region. The dark patches on the floors of the / two circular craters are caused by variations in the character of the materials / and not simply by lighting effects.; stamped: [star] / Credit: / from BLACK STAR

Tagasauris Keywords: Aerial View; Mariner 9; NASA; Night; No Photostyle; Nobody; Nobody; Outdoors; Photography; Planet; Science; Science and technology; Space exploration
Credit Line: The Image Centre, Black Star Collection.
Black Star Subject: ASTRONOMY / SPACE-MARS-MARINER 9-JULY 1972
Retouching: N