PIA08082: Martian Blanket
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows a contact between terrain which is completely mantled by a smooth-surfaced material (perhaps dust) and a rugged, cratered surface that is only partially dust-covered in the Noachis Terra region of Mars.
 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:  1024 x 2912 pixels (w x h) 
 Produced By:  Malin Space Science Systems 
 Producer ID:  MOC2-1437  
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA08082.tif (2.985 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA08082.jpg (473.7 kB)  

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:

19 April 2006
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a contact between terrain which is completely mantled by a smooth-surfaced material -- perhaps dust -- and a rugged, cratered surface that is only partially dust-covered in the Noachis Terra region of Mars. The smooth-surfaced material likely once covered this entire scene, but has been slowly eroded away to reveal the underlying, older surface.

Location near: 27.8°S, 338.8°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:
2006-04-19