NASA Mars Picture of the Day: North Polar Layers 01-13-2006
Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-1341, 13 January 2006
 NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a slope on which layered materials are exposed by erosion in the north polar region of Mars. Wind streaks are also evident in this summertime scene. The layers that make up the material beneath the ice of the north polar residual cap are typically considered to be a mixture of some amount of dust and ice, but the proportions of these constituents are not known. |
Location near: 82.6°N, 298.1°W |
Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) |
Illumination from: lower left |
Season: Northern 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.
