Status Report

NASA Mars Picture of the Day: Zephyria Channel

By SpaceRef Editor
January 1, 2006
Filed under , , ,

Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera

MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-1328, 31 December 2005


Medium-sized view of MGS MOC Picture of the Day, updated daily


NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems



This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a portion of a shallow channel carved in the plains of the Zephyria region of Mars. This feature might be the result of the passing of either extremely fluid lava or, perhaps, mud.

Location near: 5.1°N, 203.7°W

Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi)

Illumination from: lower left

Season: Northern Winter


Tips for Media Use

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.

SpaceRef staff editor.