NASA Mars Picture of the Day: Concentric Crater Floor

Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera

MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-781, 8 July 2004

NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC)
image shows the interior of a typical crater in northern
Acidalia Planitia. The floor is covered by material that
forms an almost concentric pattern. In this case, the
semi-concentric rings might be an expression of eroded
layered material, although this interpretation is uncertain.
The crater is located
near 44.0°N, 27.7°W, and
covers an area about 3 km (1.9 mi) wide.
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.