NASA Mars Picture of the Day: Bouldery Trough
Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-1160, 22 July 2005
 NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a 1.5 meters per pixel (~5 ft/pixel) view of the interior of a trough, formed by faulting, on the lower southwest flank of Biblis Patera, a volcano in the Tharsis region of Mars. Boulders tend to be most common in volcanic regions, attesting to the hardness of the volcanic rock. In this case, the boulders and surrounding terrain have been largely mantled with dust. |
Location near: 1.3°N, 124.9°W |
Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) |
Illumination from: lower left |
Season: Northern Autumn |
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.
