NASA Mars Picture of the Day: Cratered Isidis Plain
Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-1072, 25 April 2005
 NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows terrain in eastern Isidis Planitia that is very heavily peppered with impact craters of diameters of a few hundred meters (a few hundred yards) or less. One aim of the MGS MOC Picture of the Day series is to showcase the rich variety of martian surfaces; this one should be compared with other Pictures of the Day in recent weeks, as most of these are shown covering an area of about the same width, approximately 3 kilometers (1.9 miles). |
Location near: 17.5°N, 263.1°W |
Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) |
Illumination from: lower left |
Season: Northern Summer |
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.
