Mars Global Surveyor
Mars Orbiter Camera
Cerberus Fossae Trough
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-465, 27 August 2003
NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
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NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
The Cerberus Fossae are a series of semi-parallel troughs in the Cerberus region of Mars. They formed by extension (splitting) of the upper martian crust in the vicinity of the Elysium and Albor volcanoes. This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a 1.5 meter (5 feet) per pixel view of one of the Cerberus Fossae troughs. Dark sediment and talus from the trough walls are visible, as are some of the layers in the subsurface exposed by the troughs. This feature is located near 15.7 °N, 197.5°W. The area shown is 3 km (1.9 mi) across. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the left/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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