NASA Mars Picture of the Day: Sediments of Terby
Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-1204, 4 September 2005
 NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows light-toned, layered, sedimentary rocks exposed by erosion in Terby Crater, located on the north rim of the Hellas Basin. Sedimentary rocks are common on Mars; the light tone of the rocks here suggests that they might bear some similarity to the sedimentary rocks of Meridiani Planum, explored by the Mars Exploration Rover, Opportunity. Water was likely involved in the alteration of the rocks, and perhaps in their deposition as sediments, long ago. |
Location near: 27.9°S, 285.6°W |
Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) |
Illumination from: upper left |
Season: Southern Spring |
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.
