NASA Mars Picture of the Day: Wind-Eroded Terrain near Olympus Mons

Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera

MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-569, 9 December 2003

NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC)
image shows wind-eroded material, possibly sedimentary
rock, among the ridges of the Lycus Sulci region west
of Olympus Mons. The darker surfaces and the dark-toned
ripples on those surfaces indicate there may be
windblown sand present in these areas.
This October 2003 picture is
located near 17.8°N, 143.7°W.
The image covers an area approximately 3 km
(1.9 mi) wide and is illuminated 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.