NASA Mars Picture of the Day: Polar Layers 04-10-2006
Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-1427, 9 April 2006
 NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
| This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows an eroded stack of layered material in a crater of the south polar region of Mars. The composition of the layers is not known; some speculate that they may contain a combination of dust and ice, or possibly ancient sedimentary rock. |
| Location near: 80.6°S, 230.4°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.
