Mars Global Surveyor
Mars Orbiter Camera
West Candor Layers
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-682, 31 March 2004
NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
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NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
Western Candor Chasma, in the vast Valles Marineris trough system, has some of the most extensive and varied exposures of light- and dark-toned layered rock on Mars. This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows an example of layered rock exposed by erosion in west Candor. The materials are probably sedimentary rocks, although some investigators have argued for a volcanic origin. The image is located near 5.7°S, 75.8°W, and covers an area about 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.
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