Mars Global Surveyor
Mars Orbiter Camera
Layered Rocks in Ritchey
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-726, 14 May 2004
NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
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NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
This March 2004 Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows light- and dark-toned layered rock outcrops on the floor of Ritchey Crater, located near 28.9°S, 50.8°W. Some or all of these rocks may be sedimentary in origin. Erosion has left a couple of buttes standing on a more erosion-resistant plain. This picture covers an area approximately 3 km (1.9 mi) across and is illuminated by sunlight 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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