In the 8 December 2006 issue of
the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC)
science operations group published a paper regarding two major new results from the red planet:
- the detection of 20 new impact craters that formed on Mars between May 1999 and March 2006, providing
the first measure of present-day impact cratering rate on any object in the Solar System; and
- the identification of 2 gully sites at which new, light-toned deposits formed during the past
7 years, hinting at the possibility that liquid water has flowed on the martian surface
in these limited areas in this decade.
The MOC team has prepared a suite of captioned releases describing these new results. To learn
more, click on each of the images above to access the new materials regarding present-day impact
cratering (left) and present-day gully activity (right) on Mars.