Mars Global Surveyor
Mars Orbiter Camera

Lava Flow Front

MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-1078, 1 May 2005


NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows the margins and front of a large lava flow located on the plains southeast of Ascraeus Mons in the Tharsis region. Tharsis is the site of the majority of martian volcanoes and lava flows. In this case, lava flowed from left (west) to right (east) and flowed no further east than the margins of the flow seen in this picture.
Location near: 5.4°N, 102.1°W
Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi)
Illumination from: upper left
Season: Northern Summer


Tips for Media Use


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.

To MSSS Home Page