Mars Global Surveyor
Mars Orbiter Camera
Layered Rocks of Melas
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-808, 4 August 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 layered sedimentary rock outcrops exposed by erosion in southern Melas Chasma, one of the major Valles Marineris troughs. Such outcrops are common in southern Melas; they resemble the rock outcrops seen in some of the chaotic terrains and other Valles Marineris chasms. This image is located near 11.9°S, 74.6°W, and is about 3 km (1.9 mi) wide. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the lower 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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