Mars Global Surveyor
Mars Orbiter Camera
South Polar Layer Remnants
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-646, 24 February 2004
NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
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NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
The thin, dark, angular mesas in depressions in this Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image are remnants of a layer of material that has been largely stripped away from the region. The picture is located in the south polar region near 78.1°S, 272.2°W. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the upper left; the picture 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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