Mars Global Surveyor
Mars Orbiter Camera
Layers in Shalbatana Vallis
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-931, 5 December 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 an exposure of layered material, probably sediment, on the floor of Shalbatana Vallis. Erosion has exhumed small impact craters and created round, layered buttes. This image is located near 3.2°N, 43.4°W, and covers an area approximately 3 km (1.9 mi) wide. The scene is illuminated by sunlight 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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