Mars Global Surveyor Mission

• Working with MGS MOC Data

Artist's Concept

Brief Mission Summary

Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) was launched in 1996 with a successful Mars Orbit Insertion in September, 1997. In November, 2006, the spacecraft stopped transmitting. (See also: mars.jpl.nasa.gov)

Science Goals

The goals of MGS were to:

• Determine whether life ever existed on Mars
• Characterize the climate and geology of Mars
• Prepare for human exploration

Science Instruments

To achieve those goals, the MGS Spacecraft hosted these instruments:

• Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC)
• Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA)
• Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES)
• Electron Reflectometer (MAGNETOMETER)
• Gravity Field Experiment (RADIO SCIENCE)

References & Related Resources

• Mars Global Surveyor - NASA
• MGS Spacecraft - JPL (Archived)
• MGS Science Instruments - JPL (Archived)
• MGS - PDS Geosciences Node (WUSTL)
• Mars Orbiter Camera - MSSS (Malin Space Science Systems)
• Online Data Volumes - PDS

Planetary Data System (PDS) Information and Data Search Tools

• Mars Orbital Data Explorer (WUSTL)
• PDS Imaging Node:
  • MGS Mission
  • Photojournal - MGS
  • PDS Image Atlas - MGS
  • Planetary Image Locator Tool (PILOT) (Up but broken)
• PDS Engineering Node:
  • Global data search engine
• Navigation and Ancillary Information Facility (NAIF):
  • NAIF SPICE Toolkit (About Spice)
  • MGS SPICE Kernels
    • MOC Instrument Kernel
    • MOLA Instrument Kernel