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New MGS Image: Small, Fresh Impact Crater With Dark Ejecta

http://www.msss.com/mars/global_surveyor/camera/images/6_5_98_crater_release/index.html

                            Mars Global Surveyor
                             Mars Orbiter Camera

              Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) High Resolution Images
                          First SPO-2 Observations:
                 Small, Fresh Impact Crater With Dark Ejecta



Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera Release:          MOC2-50a, -50b, -50c
Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera Image ID:         581181329.33806
                                                           P338-06

                                (A) [Image]

                            247 KByte GIF image

(A) Mosaic of Viking 1 orbiter images 375s02 and 373s47, taken in April
1980. Larger crater has a diameter of 47 kilometers (29 miles). Crater is
located at 9.8°N, 311°W. Image resolution shown is about 145 meters (475 ft)
per pixel. White box indicates location of MOC image 33806 subframe.
Illumination is from upper right. Mercator projection; north is up.

                                (B) [Image]

                            479 KByte GIF image

(B) MOC image 33806 subframe, taken June 1, 1998. Image shown here at full
resolution of 12.3 meters (40 feet) per pixel. Image covers an area
approximately 8.6 x 8.6 kilometers (5.3 x 5.3 miles) in size. Illumination
is from the right, north is approximately up.

                                (C) [Image]

                             45 KByte GIF image

(C) Expanded view of a portion of MOC image 33806, showing detail of small
dark crater. Image is double original size. Crater is about 3 pixels across,
approximately 38 meters (125 feet) in diameter.

  You may need to adjust the images for the gamma of your monitor to insure
                               proper viewing.

  Note: This MOC image is made available in order to share with the public
  the excitement of new discoveries being made via the Mars Global Surveyor
  spacecraft. The image may be reproduced only if the image is credited to
     "Malin Space Science Systems/NASA". Release of this image does not
  constitute a release of scientific data. The image and its caption should
  not be referenced in the scientific literature. Full data releases to the
   scientific community are scheduled by the Mars Global Surveyor Project
  and NASA Planetary Data System. Typically, data will be released after a
                 6 month calibration and validation period.

  Click Here for more information on MGS data release and archiving plans.

                                   CAPTION

This picture is one of the first images obtained by MOC following the May
1998 period of solar conjunction. During solar conjunction, MOC and the
other instruments on Mars Global Surveyor were off while Mars was behind the
Sun, relative to Earth. The spacecraft could not communicate with Earth
during this time. After solar conjunction, Mars Global Surveyor entered the
SPO-2 observing phase-- the second Science Phasing Orbit period.

Orbit 338 was the first orbit on which MOC obtained pictures following solar
conjunction. This orbit executed on June 1, 1998. The picture above shows a
12.3 meters (40 feet) per pixel view of the floor of an ancient, eroded, 47
kilometer (29 miles) wide impact crater.

The most striking feature in this image is the small crater with dark ejecta
on the far right side. This crater, formed by a meteor impact, is only about
38 meters (125 feet) across. The blast that formed the crater sent out
ejecta in a radial pattern around the impact site. The ejecta pattern may be
dark because subsurface dark material was thrown out by the impact or
because the disturbed ground reflects less light. By martian standards, this
crater is quite young--so young that fine, bright dust that has not yet
covered it up. While interpreted to be geologically young, the crater is
definitely more than 18 years old, because it is visible as a small, dark
spot in the Viking context image taken in 1980. Also visible in this image
are some small wind-blown dunes and many small mesas and buttes that
probably formed by erosion.

The MOC image 33806 subframe is located at 9.94°N, 311.23°W, in the eastern
Arabia Terra region of Mars. The picture was taken at 8:15 a.m. PDT on June
1, 1998.

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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.