The
Mars Oriter Camera (MOC) on board the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft
has been documenting a variety of landforms in the volcanic Tharsis region,
including these valleys and associated lava flows on the plains southeast
of Olympus Mons. Lava flows are visible in the upper left quarter of this
image, but meandering valleys with streamlined 'islands' dominate the scene.
The valleys might have been carved by running water, but extremely fluid
lava or mud might also have flowed through the channels. The exact role
of each type of fluid--water, mud, or lava--remains to be determined. Illumination
is from the right. The area shown is 7.3 km wide by 12 km long. |
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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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