Mars Global Surveyor
Mars Orbiter Camera
Cerberus Fossae Pits
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-841, 6 September 2004
NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
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NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
The Cerberus Fossae are a grouping of narrow troughs formed by extension and cracking of the martian crust in the region southeast of the Elysium volcanoes. This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a small line of collapsed pits that follow the trend of the regional Cerberus Fossae troughs. These aligned pits show the location of a fault line that runs through the plains and cuts the low, rounded hill at the left, center of the image. This area is located near 7.5°N, 191.7°W. The image covers an area approximately 3 km (1.9 mi) across. Sunlight illuminates this 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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