NASA Mars Picture of the Day: Gullied Depression
Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-1385, 26 February 2006
 NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows gullies formed in the wall of a depression located on the floor of Rabe Crater west of the giant impact basin, Hellas Planitia. Gullies such as these are common features on Mars, but the process by which they are formed is not fully understood. The debate centers on the role and source of fluids in the genesis of these features. |
Location near: 44.1°S, 325.9°W |
Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) |
Illumination from: upper left |
Season: Southern Summer |
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.
