NASA Mars Picture of the Day: Becquerel Outcrops
Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-1575, 4 September 2006
 NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
| This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows layered, light-toned outcrops of sedimentary rock in Becquerel Crater. The outcrops are juxtaposed against a dark-toned substrate which occupies the upper (northern) portion of the image. Dark dunes and patches of windblown sand superpose both the light-toned rock and darker substrate; dark sand trapped among the layers of sedimentary rock enhances their appearance. |
| Location near: 21.5°N, 8.4°W |
| Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) |
| Illumination from: lower left |
| Season: Northern Spring |
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.
