Mars Global Surveyor
Mars Orbiter Camera
Valley near Olympus
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-539, 9 November 2003
NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
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NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
A suite of channels and valleys are carved into the plains southeast of the martian volcano, Olympus Mons. This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows an example located near 16.5°N, 124.8°W. Whether the valley was cut by water is unknown. Today it is dry, has dust-covered wind ripples on the floor of the innermost channel, and small craters have formed here and there on the valley terrain. This picture covers an area 3 km (1.9 mi) wide and is illuminated by sunlight 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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