Mars Global Surveyor
Mars Orbiter Camera

Alba Patera

MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-588, 28 December 2003


NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) red wide angle image shows much of Alba Patera, a low, broad shield volcano in northern Tharsis. The caldera complex---the pits formed by collapse at the volcano summit---is located toward the bottom center of this image. Alba Patera is located at 41°N, 111°W. The area shown here is approximately 430 km (~270 mi) across and illuminated from the lower left.


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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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