NASA Mars Picture of the Day: Number 8
Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-1357, 29 January 2006
 NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a spotted, high latitude plain, south of the Argyre basin. When the image was received from Mars by the MOC operations team, they noticed—with a sense of humor—the number “8” on this martian surface. The “8” is located at the center-right and is formed by the rims of two old impact craters that have been eroded and partly-filled and partly-buried beneath the surface. |
Location near: 68.6°S, 38.4°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.
