Mars Global Surveyor
Mars Orbiter Camera
Looking Out Across Dao, Niger, and Harmakhis Valles
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-250, 5 October 2000
The Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) opened its
fourth year orbiting the red planet with this mid-autumn view of
three major valley systems east of the Hellas plains.
From left to right, the first major valley, Dao Vallis, runs diagonally
from the upper left to just past the lower center of the image. Niger
Vallis joins Dao Vallis just above the center of the frame. Harmakhis
Vallis extends diagonally across the right half of the picture, toward
the lower right. These valleys are believed by some to have been
formed--at least in part--by
large outbursts of liquid water some time far back in the martian past,
though there is no way to know exactly how many hundreds of millions
or billions of years ago this might have occurred. In each valley,
water would have flowed toward the bottom of the image. Although
their dimensions vary along their courses, the
valleys are all roughly 1 km (0.6 miles) deep and range in width
from about 40 km (25 miles) down to about 8 km (5 mi).
Located around 40°S, 270°W, the picture covers an area
approximately 800 km across and is illuminated by sunlight from
the lower left. North is toward the left; the picture is a composite
of red and blue wide angle images obtained by MOC on September 13, 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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