Mars Global Surveyor
Mars Orbiter Camera
Rock Outcrops near Hellas
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-872, 7 October 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 light-toned, layered rock outcrops in a pitted and eroded region just northeast of Hellas Planitia. The light-toned materials are most likely sedimentary rocks deposited early in martian history (but long after the Hellas Basin formed by a giant asteroid or comet impact). The scene also includes a plethora of large dark-toned, windblown ripples. The image is located near 27.2°S, 280.7°W, and covers an area about 3 km (1.9 mi) wide. Sunlight illuminates the scene 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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