Mars Global Surveyor
Mars Orbiter Camera
A Gullied Crater Wall
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-919, 23 November 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 a suite of southern middle-latitude gullies cut into the wall of an impact crater located near 32.1°S, 12.9°W. These gullies might indicate that groundwater seeped to the surface and ran down these slopes. Others have suggested that similar gullies on Mars might form by other processes, including melting of ground ice or snow, but this image does not provide any clues that would suggest either of these alternatives are better than the groundwater interpretation. The 300 meter scale bar is about 984 feet long. 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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