PIA03689: Southern Terrain
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows an eroded landscape in the south polar region of Mars. Layered material has been exposed to create a complex pattern of steps and low, isolated mesas.
 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:  2048 x 3648 pixels (w x h) 
 Produced By:  Malin Space Science Systems 
 Producer ID:  MOC2-1350  
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA03689.tif (7.479 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA03689.jpg (2.002 MB)  

Click on the image above to download a moderately sized image in JPEG format (possibly reduced in size from original)

Original Caption Released with Image:

22 January 2006
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows an eroded landscape in the south polar region of Mars. Layered material has been exposed to create a complex pattern of steps and low, isolated mesas. The material has also been cracked, and semi-parallel ridges on some of the 'stairsteps' may be old, windblown ripples.

Location near: 86.0°S, 182.1°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:
2006-01-22