The Mars Observer spacecraft undergoes processing in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, in preparation for its September 1992 launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. JPL manages the mission for NASA's Office of Space Science and Applications.

The Mars Observer spacecraft ascends atop a Titan III vehicle and Transfer Orbit Stage (TOS) upper stage during its launch September 25, 1992, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. Mars Observer will go into orbit around the red planet in August 1993, beginning a 687-day study of the planet's environment during a full Martian year. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the Mars Observer mission for NASA's Office of Space Science and Applications.

Photograph of the planet Mars taken at 8:52 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time on July 26 by the high-resolution, narrow-angle telescope of the Mars Observer camera. At that time, the Mars Observer spacecraft was 5.8 million kilometers (3.6 million miles) and 28 days from its encounter with Mars. The resolution in this image is approximately 21.5 km (13.4 mi.) per picture element and Mars, roughly 6800 km (4200 miles) in diameter, is about 315 picture elements across. North is to the top of the image; the south pole is near the bottom but in shadow. The sunrise line (terminator) stretches across the morning hemisphere from lower right to upper left. At this distance from Mars, only bright and dark markings resulting from variations in the amount and thickness of dust and sand are visible. Toward the bottom of the picture is a bright, roughly circular area called Hellas, an impact basin 2000 km (1250 mi.) across. The dark area in the center of the frame is Syrtis Major, a region of volcanic plains and dark sand dunes. At the top of the photograph is Nilosyrtis, an area of buttes, mesas and box canyons reminiscent of the deserts of the southwest United States. Launched on Sept. 25, 1992, Mars Observer will enter Mars' orbit on Tuesday, Aug. 24, at about 1:30 p.m. PDT. In-orbit engineering checkout of the camera is scheduled to begin Sept. 16. The camera and six other investigations begin mapping operations from a circular orbit just 400 km (248 mi.) above the surface on Dec. 16. The Mars Observer Camera was developed by and is operated under contract to Jet Propulsion Laboratory by and industry/university team led by Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, Calif.

About Mars Observer