Mars Global Surveyor
Mars Orbiter Camera

Buttes in Melas Chasma

MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-336, 20 April 2003

NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) picture obtained in March 2003 shows dark-toned buttes of possible sedimentary rock in southern Melas Chasma. These buttes are remnants of a layer or sequence of layers that once covered this portion of the chasm floor. The buttes are located near 11.4°S, 75.1° W. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the upper right.

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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