NASA Mars Picture of the Day: Northern Plains Crater 12-19-2004

Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera

MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-945, 19 December 2004

NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

Most craters on the martian northern lowland plains are
filled and many of them are buried just beneath the surface,
or are mostly buried.
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC)
image shows an example, in which only the crater’s raised
rim still pokes out above the surrounding plains. This
crater is located
near 46.2°N, 257.7°W. The image 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.