NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) narrow angle camera image shows banded terrain in easternmost Hellas Planitia, between the distal ends of Dao and Harmakhis valleys. These bands probably indicate the location of eroded, layered bedrock that has been covered by a mantling deposit that, itself, became eroded to form the very small pits and bumps that pervade the region. This picture is located near 41.1°S, 275.0°W. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the left/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.