Mars Global Surveyor
Mars Orbiter Camera
Oblique View of Layers in Crater at 8°N, 7°W
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-265N, 4 December 2000
(a) Oblique View
Subframe of M18-01349
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(b) Image Used to Create Oblique View
Subframe of M18-01349
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The continuity of flat, layered rock in a crater at 8°N,
7°W, in western Arabia Terra offers an unusual opportunity to
create a detailed topographic map of the layers seen in Mars Global
Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image M18-01349. Each layer
was traced while maintaining its proper stratigraphic location. The
resulting contour map was then registered to MGS laser altimeter data
to constrain the range of elevations, and interpolated. It was then
possible to create the perspective view seen here (above left) by
combining the resulting digital terrain model with the original
picture. The oblique view shows what it might be like to fly over
these layered outcrops in a helicopter. The image used to generate the
oblique view (above right) was acquired by MOC in August 2000; it covers
an area 2.8 by 1.7 km (1.7 by 1.0 mi) at a resolution of 1.8 meters (6
ft) per pixel. Dark material in the low areas between buttes and
mesas of layered rock is windblown sand. For additional views of
layered rock in the crater at 8°N, 7°W, see "Layered Material in West Arabia Terra Crater,
MOC2-261, Deceber 4, 2000.
Images 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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