Mars Picture of the Day: Layers in 8°N, 7°W Crater

Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera

MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-342, 26 April 2003

NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image
shows dozens of layers of sedimentary rock in an unnamed western
Arabia crater at 8°N, 7°W. Dark, wind-blown sand and
lighter-toned dunes or ripples enhance the apparent contrast in this
area. Several faults, indicated by off-set layers, are present.
The picture covers an area
about 1.5 km (just under 1mi)
wide.
Sunlight illuminates the scene from the
left.

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.