The
northern plains of Mars exhibit craters that often appear to be partly buried
by or exhumed from beneath layers of pitted and eroded material. |
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Each
day, Mars Global Surveyor makes 12 orbits around the red planet. On each
orbit at the present time (April 1999), the spacecraft passes from daylight
into night somewhere over the northern plains of Mars, and re-emerges into
daylight over the southern cratered highlands. The illumination conditions
near the martian terminator--the line between night and day--are perfect
for observing surface texture and topography. This picture shows a common,
rough and bumpy texture that MOC has revealed on the northern plains of
Mars. |
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