NASA Mars Picture of the Day: Addition and Subtraction
Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-1423, 5 April 2006
 NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
| This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows the margin of a lava flow on a plain northwest of Jovis Tholus, a volcanic construct located in the Tharsis region of Mars. To the north (top) of the lava flow, islands of a material that was once more laterally extensive are present, suggesting that at some time in the past, a great deal of this material was removed by erosion—perhaps a catastrophic flood of water and debris. The lava flow at the south (bottom) came in later, long after the erosional events occurred. |
| Location near: 20.9°N, 118.9°W |
| Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) |
| Illumination from: lower left |
| Season: Northern Winter |
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.
