Status Report

NASA Mars Picture of the Day: North Polar Scarp

By SpaceRef Editor
March 3, 2004
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Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera

MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-654, 3 March 2004




NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

The north polar cap of Mars overlies a series of layered
materials. The upper-most layers are light-toned and
may include ice and perhaps dust. The lower layers may be
less icy and contain some amount of dark sand.
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC)
image shows an exposure of north polar layers located
near 83.9°N, 237.9°W. This view
covers an area 3 km (1.9 mi) wide and is
illuminated by sunlight 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.