Mars Global Surveyor
Mars Orbiter Camera

Martian Valley

MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-1098, 21 May 2005


NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a portion of a martian valley, perhaps long, long ago carved by a liquid such as water, in northern Terra Cimmeria. The channel that might have once run down through the valley is no longer visible; the floor is covered with large, light-toned, windblown ripples.
Location near: 5.7°S, 227.6°W
Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi)
Illumination from: upper left
Season: Southern Winter


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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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