Mars Global Surveyor
Mars Orbiter Camera
Martian Gullies
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-470, 1 September 2003
NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
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NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
This July 2003 Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) full-resolution (1.5 meters--5 feet--per pixel) image shows a suite of gullies in the wall of a crater near 35.3°S, 76.3°W. The gullies are considered to have formed by downslope transport of water-laden debris, although the exact nature of the fluid is unknown because it is no longer present. This image covers an area 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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