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Mars Global Surveyor
Mars Orbiter Camera

Secondary Field

MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-1354, 26 January 2006

Medium-sized view of MGS MOC Picture of the Day, updated daily
NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a field of secondary craters located on the plains north of Ares Vallis, roughly 30 or 35 kilometers (19–22 miles) northeast of the Mars Pathfinder landing site. These craters did not form directly by individual meteor impacts—they resulted from the impact of material ejected from a much larger meteor impact that occurred somewhere to the south of the region.
Location near: 19.9°N, 33.3°W
Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi)
Illumination from: lower left
Season: Northern 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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