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New Impact Crater Formed Between April 2001 and December 2003

Dec. 6, 2006
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows a young impact crater that formed in Arabia Terra on Mars.

Click here for annotated figure 1 of PIA09026Click here for annotated figure 2 of PIA09026
Figure A
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No Annotation		Figure B
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These Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) images show a young impact crater that formed in Arabia Terra near 22.2°N, 345.5°W, some time between 2 April 2001 and 11 December 2003.

This image and figure A are sub-frames of MOC image S16-01199, acquired on 13 March 2006. This image has been colorized using a look-up table derived from color data acquired by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC). The site features a crater about 24.0 ± 3.0 meters (about 79 feet) across. In other words, one can compare a 100 yard U.S. style football field with this 26 yards wide crater. The "blast zone" around the crater is much larger and includes combination of rays and chains of small secondary impacts.

Figure B: This picture shows how the timing of the impact event was constrained. The first picture is a sub-frame of MOC red wide angle image E03-00127, obtained on 2 April 2001. The white circle indicates the impact site. The second picture, obtained after the impact occurred, is MOC red wide angle camera image R12-01350, acquired on 11 December 2003.

The Mars Global Surveyor mission is managed for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, developed and operates the spacecraft. Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, Calif., built and operates the Mars Orbiter Camera.

For more information about images from the Mars Orbiter Camera, see http://www.msss.com/mgs/moc/index.html.

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