NASA Mars Picture of the Day: Ascraeus Lava Flows

Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera

MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-741, 29 May 2004

NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC)
image shows lava flows on the middle west flank of the
large martian volcano, Ascraeus Mons. The flows ran downslope
from the lower right (southeast) toward upper left (northwest).
These flows are located
near 11.9°N, 105.5°W. This December 2003 image
covers an area about 3 km (1.9 mi) across;
sunlight illuminates the scene from the lower 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.