Mars Global Surveyor
Mars Orbiter Camera

Small Tharsis Volcano

MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-834, 30 August 2004


NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a small volcano located southwest of the giant volcano, Pavonis Mons, near 2.5°S, 109.4°W. Lava flows can be seen to have emanated from the summit region, which today is an irregularly-shaped collapse pit, or caldera. A blanket of dust mantles this volcano. Dust covers most martian volcanoes, none of which are young or active today. This picture covers an area about 3 km (1.9 mi) across; sunlight illuminates the scene from the left.


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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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