NASA Mars Picture of the Day: Upland Impact
Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-1411, 24 March 2006
 NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
| This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a relatively fresh crater with dark, rayed ejecta on an upland plain above one of the many depressions in the eastern Labyrinthus Noctis region. The presence of the dark rays emanating from the crater suggests that the impact was a relatively recent event compared to other craters of similar diameter in the scene. Over time, the dark ejecta will fade and blend in with its surroundings, owing to settling of dust from the atmosphere. |
| Location near: 9.7°S, 94.8°W |
| Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) |
| Illumination from: upper left |
| Season: Southern 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.
