NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows light-toned, sedimentary rock outcrops in the Aureum Chaos region of Mars. On the brightest and steepest slope in this scene, dry talus shed from the outcrop has formed a series of dark fans along its base. These outcrops are located near 3.4°S, 27.5°W. The image covers an area approximately 3 km (1.9 mi) across and 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.