Mars Global Surveyor
Mars Orbiter Camera
Northern Pancake
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-1540, 31 July 2006
NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
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NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
| This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a "pancake" or "pedestal" crater on the martian northern plains. The rocky ejecta from the crater protected the underlying material from being stripped away by wind, leaving the ejecta standing higher than the surrounding terrain. The rocks in the ejecta are not too clearly seen today, especially at the 6 meters (~20 feet) per pixel scale of this image, in part because they have been covered up by later, mantling material. |
| Location near: 60.0°N, 265.6°W |
| Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) |
| Illumination from: lower left |
| Season: Northern Spring |
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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