NASA Mars Picture of the Day: Secondary Field 2006-01-26
Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-1354, 26 January 2006
 NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a field of secondary craters located on the plains north of Ares Vallis, roughly 30 or 35 kilometers (19–22 miles) northeast of the Mars Pathfinder landing site. These craters did not form directly by individual meteor impacts—they resulted from the impact of material ejected from a much larger meteor impact that occurred somewhere to the south of the region. |
Location near: 19.9°N, 33.3°W |
Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) |
Illumination from: lower left |
Season: Northern Winter |
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.
