NASA Mars Picture of the Day: Zephyria Channel
Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-1328, 31 December 2005
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 |
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.