Mars Global Surveyor
Mars Orbiter Camera
Rocks Exposed on Slope in Aram Chaos
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-550, 20 November 2003
NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
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NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
This spectacular vista of sedimentary rocks outcropping on a slope in Aram Chaos was acquired by the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) on 14 November 2003. Dark piles of coarse talus have come down the slopes as these materials continue to erode over time. Note that there are no small meteor impact craters in this image, indicating that erosion of these outcrops has been recent, if not on-going. This area is located near 2.8°S, 20.5°W. The 200 meter scale bar is about 656 feet across. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the lower right.
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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