Mars Global Surveyor
Mars Orbiter Camera
Channel in Kasei
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-910, 14 November 2004
NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
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NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
The Kasei Valles are a suite of very large, ancient outflow channels. This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a portion of the youngest channel system in the Kasei Valles. Torrents of mud, rocks, and water carved this channel as flow was constricted through a narrow portion of the valley. Layers exposed by the erosion that created the channel can be seen in its walls. This 1.4 meters (5 feet) per pixel image is located near 21.1°N, 72.6°W. The picture covers an area approximately 3 km (1.9 mi) across. 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.
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