Mars Global Surveyor
Mars Orbiter Camera
Sirenum Fossae Troughs
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-811, 7 August 2004
NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
|
NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
The martian crust expanded and cracked in patterns radial to the great Tharsis Bulge; one suite of troughs and cracks is the Sirenum Fossae. This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows two troughs and the bouldery debris shed from their walls. The image is located near 29.8°S, 147.9°W. The picture covers an area about 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.
To MSSS Home Page