Mars Global Surveyor
Mars Orbiter Camera
Layered Mesa Top
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-942, 16 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 light-toned, layered outcrops of sedimentary rock exposed at the top of a small mesa in northern west Candor Chasma of the Valles Marineris trough system. Large, dark, windblown ripples cover the plains surrounding the mesa. These features are located near 5.4°S, 74.6°W. The image covers an area approximately 3 km (1.9 mi) wide and is illuminated by sunlight 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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