Mars Global Surveyor
Mars Orbiter Camera
Gullies in Noachis
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-728, 16 May 2004
NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
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NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
This full-resolution (1.5 m/pixel; 5 ft/pixel) Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows gullies on a crater wall in northern Noachis Terra. The gullies might have formed by the seepage of martian groundwater or melting of ice. However, the Mars science community is still studying this topic and no consensus has yet emerged as to whether such gullies could have formed without water. These gullies are located near 32.1°S, 12.9°W. The 300 meter scale bar also equals 328 yards (984 feet). The picture is illuminated by sunlight from the left/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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