NASA Mars Picture of the Day: South Polar Terrain 01-15-2006
Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-1343, 15 January 2006
 NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows layers exposed by erosion on a slope in the martian south polar region. Both polar caps on Mars are underlain by a complex stratigraphy of layered material; the Mars Polar Lander—lost in December 1999—was designed to have provided some insight as to the nature and composition of the layers in the southern hemisphere. |
Location near: 86.9°S, 180.5°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.
