NASA Mars Picture of the Day: Light-toned Rocks 11-23-2005
Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-1290, 23 November 2005
 NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows light-toned rock outcrops in northeastern Sinus Meridiani. The entire northern Sinus Meridiani region has vast exposures of light-toned, layered rock, covering an area many times greater than that of all the famous sandstone, limestone, and shale outcrops of northern Arizona and southeastern Utah. The rocks in this image are probably similar to those explored by the Mars Exploration Rover, Opportunity, but probably are of a different age and position in the region’s geologic history. MGS MOC and Mars Odyssey THEMIS images were recently used to describe the complex geology of the Sinus Meridiani region, as detailed in the open access Mars journal article, “The sedimentary rocks of Sinus Meridiani: Five key observations from data acquired by the Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Odyssey orbiters,” by Malin Space Science Systems’ K. S. Edgett. The paper is available at: doi:10.1555/mars.2005.0002. |
Location near: 0.3°S, 356.0°W |
Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) |
Illumination from: lower 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.
