Olympus Mons Lava Flows

Today's VIS image shows flank flows on the east side of Olympus Mons. Olympus Mons stands 26 km (16 miles) above the surrounding plains, which is three times taller than Mt. Everest, and is the tallest volcano in the solar system. Olympus Mons is also wider (585 km, 363 miles) than the state of Arizona. Although these are impressive dimensions an astronaut would find walking these slopes easy, as they are typically only 2 to 5 degrees. This image contains numerous lava flows, leveed lava channels, and a series of round depressions thought to be where the roof of a lava tube has collapsed into the underlying void.

Orbit Number: 81077 Latitude: 19.9207 Longitude: 231.287 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2020-03-25 04:51

Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.