Mars Global Surveyor
Mars Orbiter Camera
Meridiani Sedimentary Rocks
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-545, 15 November 2003
NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
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NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
Northern Sinus Meridiani is a region of vast exposures of layered, sedimentary rock. Buried within these layers are many filled impact craters. Erosion has re-exposed several formerly-buried craters in this Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image. Arrows 1 and 2 indicate craters that are still emerging from beneath layered material; arrow 3 indicates a crater that has been fully re-exposed. This image is located near 5.1°N, 2.7°W. The area shown is about 3 km (1.9 mi) wide and illuminated 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.
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