NASA Mars Picture of the Day: Cracks and Lines

Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera

MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-749, 6 June 2004

NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC)
picture shows an odd area of the south polar region that
has sets of fine, nearly parallel lines running from the northeast
(upper right) toward southwest (lower left) and a darker, wider
set of cracks with a major trend running almost perpendicular
to the finer lines. The appearance of these features is
enhanced by seasonal frost. Dark areas have no frost, bright
areas still have frozen carbon dioxide ice. In summer, the
ice would be gone and the cracks and lines less obvious
when viewed from orbit. Although unknown, wind might
be responsible for forming the fine set of lines, and
perhaps freeze-thaw cycles of ground ice or structural
deformation would have contributed to formation of the
wider cracks. The image is located
near 85.0°S, 324.0°W, and
covers an area about 1.5 km (nearly 1 mi) across. The
scene is illuminated by sunlight from the upper 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.