Mars Global Surveyor
Mars Orbiter Camera
High-resolution View of Gullies
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-603, 12 January 2004
NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
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NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
One goal of the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) extended mission is to examine middle- and polar-latitude gullies at the highest resolutions available to MOC. This image, at 1.5 meters (5 feet) per pixel, shows several gullies carved into the material covering the wall of an old meteor impact crater near 46.7°S, 162.3°W. Large boulders that have come down the slopes are present among the gullies and their aprons. The image covers an area 3 km (1.9 mi) wide; sunlight illuminates the scene from the 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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