Mars Global Surveyor
Mars Orbiter Camera
Stripped Crater Floor
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-632, 10 February 2004
NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
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NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
This full-resolution Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows details on the floor of an ancient meteor crater in the northeastern part of Noachis Terra. After the crater formed, layers of material--perhaps sediment--were deposited in the crater. These materials became somewhat solidified, but later were eroded to form the patterns shown here. Many windblown ripples in the scene indicate the presence of coarse-grained sediment that was not completely stripped away by wind. The picture is located near 22.1°S, 307.0°W. Sunlight illuminates this scene from the left/upper left; the image covers an area 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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