Mars Global Surveyor
Mars Orbiter Camera

Layers near Juventae Chasma

MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-346, 30 April 2003

NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) picture obtained in April 2003 shows eroded layered rock outcrops near the southwest rim of Juventae Chasma in the southern hemisphere. This area is near 4.8°S, 63.7°W. Layers such as these record some fraction of the geologic history of Mars; however, that history cannot really be known from pictures alone. The erosional pattern of these layers suggests that they are sedimentary rocks. The area shown is about 3 km (1.9 mi) wide. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the upper 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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