Mars Global Surveyor
Mars Orbiter Camera
Mesas and troughs in Nilosyrtis region, Mars
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-307, 18 April 2002
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows
a region of flat-topped mesas separated by valleys or troughs of
similar depth and width. The valley floors have been covered by a
material that has subsequently developed thin cracks and collapse pits
aligned along some of these cracks. A few outcrops of layered material
occur in the valleys as well. The valleys probably originally formed
by faulting; the origin of the mantling material is unknown. The
image covers an area approximately 2.3 km (1.4 miles) wide and was
acquired in May 2001. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the lower
left.
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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