Status Report

NASA Mars Picture of the Day: Cerberus Fossae Trough 03-24-2004

By SpaceRef Editor
March 24, 2004
Filed under , , ,

Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera

MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-675, 24 March 2004




NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC)
image provides a look down into one of the long, dark, Cerberus
Fossae troughs
near 10.2°N, 202.6°W.
Faulting and extension of the upper martian crust in this region
has caused numerous troughs such as this to form. The trough walls
expose layered bedrock that serves as a source for dark-toned
debris that creates talus deposits.
This picture 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.

SpaceRef staff editor.