NASA Mars Picture of the Day: South Layers
Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-1468, 20 May 2006
 NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
| This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows remnants of layered materials near the west rim of South Crater, Mars. The composition of these layered rocks is unknown—are they the remains of sedimentary rocks or accumulations of dust and ice? We’ll probably not know until someone visits this area, perhaps centuries from now. |
| Location near: 77.4°S, 341.5°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.
