Mars Global Surveyor
Mars Orbiter Camera

Wind-Eroded Terrain

MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-1172, 3 August 2005


NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows yardangs, a ridge-and-groove landform produced by wind erosion of a granular, sand-rich bedrock. These are located west-southwest of the volcano, Olympus Mons. Yardangs are common on Mars, especially in the regions west and southwest of Olympus Mons, in southern Amazonis Planitia.
Location near: 14.8°N, 146.6°W
Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi)
Illumination from: lower left
Season: Northern Autumn


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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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