NASA Mars Picture of the Day: Mesa with Apron

Status Report From: NASAJPL/MSSS
Posted: Sunday, September 24, 2006

Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-1594, 23 September 2006

NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a mesa and an impact grater just east of Phlegra Montes. The mesa is the eroded remnant of a once more extensive terrain. An apron of material surrounds the mesa.

Location near: 38.5°N, 193.4°W

Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi)

Illumination from: lower left

Season: Northern Spring

Tips for Media Use

Malin Space Science Systems and the California Institute of Technology built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission. MSSS operates the camera from its facilities in San Diego, California. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars Surveyor Operations Project operates the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena, California and Denver, Colorado.

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