NASA Mars Picture of the Day: Troughs Near Ascraeus

Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera

MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-791, 18 July 2004

NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC)
image shows troughs and a pit, possibly formed by
collapse, on the volcanic plains south of the
large volcano, Ascraeus Mons. Wind-eroded debris
mantles the scene and partly fills the depressions.
The image is located
near 4.5°N, 105.5°W, and
covers an area about 3 km (1.9 mi) wide.
Sunlight illuminates the scene from the lower left.

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.