Mars Global Surveyor
Mars Orbiter Camera
Terra Sirenum Slope
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-789, 16 July 2004
NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
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NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows the layered rocks and boulders exposed on the wall of a trough in the Terra Sirenum region. The layers that erode to produce large boulders are harder and more resistant to weathering and erosion than those that do not. The slope is located near 25.8°S, 139.8°W. The image covers an area 3 km (1.9 mi) wide 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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