Mars Global Surveyor
Mars Orbiter Camera
Layered Unit in Gale Crater Mound
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-265F, 4 December 2000
The lower rocks exposed in the Gale Crater central mound are
layered. Most layers are of similar thickness and form cliffs of a
few to ten meters (a few to 11 yards) height. The picture on the left
shows an example of the layers exposed in Mars Global Surveyor (MGS)
Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image M03-01521. The picture on the right
is a colored map showing the different layered and massive rock
units identified in the Gale Crater mound; the white box indicates
the location of the picture on the left. Refer to
"Oblique view of Gale Crater Mound," MOC2-265E, December 4, 2000 to see the location of the color map relative to the entire
mound. For additional information about Gale Crater, see
Sediment History Preserved in Gale Crater Central Mound, MOC2-260, December 4, 2000.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems
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,
CA. 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, CA
and Denver, CO.
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