Mars Global Surveyor
Mars Orbiter Camera
Olympica Fossae
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-500, 1 October 2003
NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
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NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
This 500th Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) captioned release shows some of the complex flow and channel features of the Olympica Fossae region in northern Tharsis. The story of the Olympica Fossae is still emerging and continues to be puzzling. There is evidence in the Olympica Fossae channels that a fluid with the physical properties of water may have been involved in creating some of the erosional forms, but there are also flow features suggestive of lava or mud in the region. Regardless, the Olympica Fossae almost always yield a very pretty and interesting MOC high resolution image. This picture is located near 24.5°N, 115.4°W. The area shown is 3 km (1.9 mi) wide and illuminated by sunlight from the 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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