Media Information

 
 
 
Collection:
NASA Planetary Photo Journal Collection
Title:
Western Melas and Candor Chasms, Valles Marineris
Original Caption Released with Image:
During its March 1999 operations, the Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) on board the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) captured this stunning wide-angle camera view of the western portions of Melas and Candor Chasms in the Valles Marineris canyon system. This view covers an area that is about 80 kilometers (50 miles) wide and 220 kilometers (137 miles)long. Melas Chasma is located at the bottom of the image, Candor at the top. Hints of layers in the canyon walls are evident in this image. Color and albedo (brightness)variatio ns on the floors of each chasm indicate the relative distribution of dark sand and brighter sediments and/or rocks. Dark sand on the floor of Melas Chasma was also seen by MOC in March 1999 (see MOC2-104) and bright layered material was observed in Candor Chasma in April 1998 (see MOC2-59).

The colors shown here are not true colors as they would appear to the human eye. The MOC has cameras that obtain images in red and blue portions of the visible spectrum; the green portion is synthesized using the combined average values of the red and blue channels (a relationship understood from Viking Orbiter imaging in the 1970s). Illumination is from the upper left.

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.
Addition Date:
2000-06-17
Image Credit:
NASA/JPL/MSSS
Produced By:
Malin Space Science Systems
Mission:
Mars Global Surveyor (MGS)
Spacecraft:
Mars Global Surveyor Orbiter
Target Name:
Mars
Is a satellite of:
Sol (our sun)
Instrument:
Mars Orbiter Camera
Product Size:
802 samples x 2137 lines
Primary Data Set:
MGS EDRs
Producer ID:
MOC2-105
P50278
MRPS94521
facet_what:
Sun
facet_what:
Mars
facet_what:
Viking
facet_what:
Surveyor
facet_what:
Mars Observer
facet_what:
Valles
facet_what:
Mars Global Surveyor Orbiter (MGS)
facet_what:
Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC)
facet_where:
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
facet_where:
Denver
facet_where:
Mars
facet_where:
California
facet_where:
Valles Marineris, Mars
facet_where:
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
facet_where:
Candor Chasm, Mars
facet_when:
March 1999
facet_when:
April 1998
facet_when_year:
1999
facet_when_year:
1998
Image #:
PIA01692
UID:
SPD-PHOTJ-PIA01692
orignial url:

Western Melas and Candor Chasms, Valles Marineris