Mars Global Surveyor
Mars Orbiter Camera

Tractus Catena Collapse Pits

MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-386, 9 June 2003


NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

This chain of pits formed by collapse as faulting extended the upper crust in the Tractus Catena region of Mars. The layered bedrock can be seen in the upper walls of each pit in this Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image. The picture covers an area about 3 km (1.9 mi) wide near 28.5°N, 102.9°W. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the 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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