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Mars Global Surveyor
Mars Orbiter Camera

Skirted Mesa

MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-1500, 21 June 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 portion of a mesa in eastern Candor Chasma. The mesa appears to be composed of at least two different rock types based on the near-vertical appearance of the scarps which define the top portion of the mesa and the gentler slopes that extend down to where the base of the mesa meets the chasm floor. The uppermost rock unit is more resistant to erosion, and thus is harder.
Location near: 7.6°S, 65.5°W
Image width: ~2 km (~1.2 mi)
Illumination from: upper left
Season: Southern Summer


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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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