MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE

JET PROPULSION LABORATORY

CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

PASADENA, CALIFORNIA 91109. TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011

Contact: Mary Hardin

INTERNET IMAGE ADVISORY

NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft has captured a lovely
view of a bright, heart-shaped mesa in the south polar region of
the red planet.

The heart-shaped feature is about 255 meters (837 feet)
across. According to Mars Global Surveyor scientists, the
presence of this mesa indicates that the darker, rough terrain
that surrounds it was once covered by a layer of the bright
material.

The image, taken on November 26, 1999, is being released
today on the web at http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov or
http://www.msss.com

Mars Global Surveyor is the first mission in a long-term
program of Mars exploration known as the Mars Surveyor Program
that is managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for NASA’s
Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. JPL is a division of
the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA.