PIA03673: South Polar Terrain
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows layers exposed by erosion on a slope in the martian south polar region. Both polar caps on Mars are underlain by a complex stratigraphy of layered material.
 Target Name:  Mars
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) 
 Spacecraft:  Mars Global Surveyor Orbiter
 Instrument:  Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) 
 Product Size:  672 x 1096 pixels (w x h) 
 Produced By:  Malin Space Science Systems 
 Producer ID:  MOC2-1343  
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA03673.tif (737.5 kB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA03673.jpg (191.3 kB)  

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Original Caption Released with Image:

15 January 2006
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows layers exposed by erosion on a slope in the martian south polar region. Both polar caps on Mars are underlain by a complex stratigraphy of layered material; the Mars Polar Lander -- lost in December 1999 -- was designed to have provided some insight as to the nature and composition of the layers in the southern hemisphere.

Location near: 86.9°S, 180.5°W
Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi)
Illumination from: upper left
Season: Southern Summer

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

Image Addition Date:
2006-01-15