NASA Mars Picture of the Day: Filled/Eroded Craters
Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-1250, 14 October 2005
NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows rugged terrain in northern Arabia Terra. The circular features are the remains of old meteor impact craters—either the eroded remnants of the interiors of craters, or the remains of craters that were filled by layered material. The martian bedrock has craters of all sizes and states of erosion interbedded with its layered materials. |
Location near: 28.6°N, 317.5°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.