Mars Global Surveyor
Mars Orbiter Camera
Terby's Layered Rocks
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-665, 14 March 2004
NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
|
NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
Layered rock outcrops are common all across Mars, and the Mars rover, Opportunity, has recently investigated some layered rocks in Meridiani Planum. This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows layered sedimentary rocks in northern Terby Crater, located just north of the giant Hellas Basin near 27.5°S, 285.8°W. Hundreds of layers are exposed in a deposit several kilometers thick within Terby. A history of events that shaped the northern Hellas region is recorded in these rocks, just waiting for a person or robot to investigate. The picture covers an area 3 km (1.9 mi) across. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the 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.
To MSSS Home Page