![]() NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows the results of catastrophic flooding in Marte Vallis, Mars. Marte is the Spanish word for Mars. Many of the major valleys on the red planet are named for the word for "Mars" in the various languages of Earth. This image shows just a very small portion of the hundreds-of-kilometers-long Marte Vallis system. |
Location near: 17.4°N, 174.7°W |
Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) |
Illumination from: lower left |
Season: Northern Winter |
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.