Mars Global Surveyor
Mars Orbiter Camera
South Polar Layers
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-548, 18 November 2003
NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
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NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
The south polar region of Mars exhibits thick exposures of layered sediment. This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) picture shows an example of layers exposed on a slope. The image was obtained during southern summer in early November 2003. Sunlight illuminates the layers from the upper left; the lowest layers are at the top of the image; the slope goes up-hill toward the bottom. This area is located near 86.0°S, 182.4°W, and covers an area approximately 3 km (1.9 mi) wide.
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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