Visit NASA's Home Page Jet Propulsion Laboratory California Institute of Technology View the NASA Portal Click to search JPL Visit JPL Home Page Proceed to JPL's Earth Page Proceed to JPL's Solar System Page Proceed to JPL's Stars & Galaxies Page Proceed to JPL's Technology Page Proceed to JPL's People and Facilities Photojournal Home Page View the Photojournal Image Gallery
Top navigation bar

PIA03915: Partially-Exhumed Crater in Northern Terra Meridiani: Stereo Anaglyph of overlapping coverage in M04-01289 and E17-01676
Target Name: Mars
Is a satellite of: Sol (our sun)
Mission: Mars Global Surveyor (MGS)
Spacecraft: Mars Global Surveyor Orbiter
Instrument: Mars Orbiter Camera
Product Size: 1490 samples x 422 lines
Produced By: Malin Space Science Systems
Producer ID: MOC2-316
Other Information: You will need 3D glasses
Full-Res TIFF: PIA03915.tif (1.919 MB)
Full-Res JPEG: PIA03915.jpg (114.7 kB)

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

Original Caption Released with Image:
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-316, 8 August 2002

Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) images have shown time and again that the geology and history of Mars is complex. These two pictures show different views of a circular feature in northern Terra Meridiani at 2.3°N, 356.6°W. The first is a mosaic of 3 MOC narrow angle images acquired in August 1999, November 2000, and June 2002. The black area is a gap in coverage resulting from data lost after transmission from Mars to Earth. The second picture is a stereo ("3-D") anaglyph of a portion of the same circular feature. It has been rotated 90° clockwise to show the stereo effect that results from combining the August 1999 image, which was taken while the spacecraft was pointed nadir (straight down) and the June 2002 image, taken with the spacecraft pointing backwards about 16° (i.e., MGS Relay-16 orientation). The anaglyph should be viewed with "3-D" glasses (red in left eye, blue in the right).

The circular feature was once an impact crater. The crater was 2.6 km (1.6 mi) across, about 2.6 times larger than the famous Meteor Crater in northern Arizona. Terra Meridiani, like northern Arizona, is a region of vast exposures of layered sedimentary rock. Like the crater in Arizona, this one was formed by a meteor that impacted a layered rock substrate. Later, this crater was filled and completely buried under more than 100 m (more than 327 ft) of additional layered sediment. The sediment hardened to become rock. Later still, the rock was eroded away--by processes unknown (perhaps wind)--to re-expose the buried crater. The crater today remains mostly filled with sediment, its present rim standing only about 40 m (130 ft) above its surroundings.
Image Credit:
NASA/JPL/MSSS


Latest Images Search Methods Animations Spacecraft & Telescopes Related Links Privacy/Copyright Image Use Policy Feedback Frequently Asked Questions Photojournal Home Page First Gov Freedom of Information Act NASA Home Page Webmaster
Bottom navigation bar