NASA Mars Picture of the Day: Arabian Crater
Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-1242, 6 October 2005
 NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows an old impact crater in southeastern Arabia Terra. The crater ejecta blanket is no longer visible and all of the terrain has been covered by a mantle of dust. The dark streaks on the crater wall are the result of dry avalanches of dust; the darker streaks formed more recently than the lighter-toned streaks. Indeed, the darkest streak is likely to be less than a few years old. |
Location near: 3.0°N, 315.6°W |
Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) |
Illumination from: lower left |
Season: Northern Autumn |
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.
