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Rugged Olympus Mons

July 9, 2005
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows a portion of the upper west flank of the giant martian volcano, Olympus Mons. Although considered to be young relative to much of Mars, at high resolution the Olympus Mons volcano turns out to be heavily cratered.

9 July 2005
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a 1.5 meters per pixel (~5 ft/pixel) view of a portion of the upper west flank of the giant martian volcano, Olympus Mons. Although considered to be young relative to much of Mars, at high resolution the Olympus Mons volcano turns out to have one of the most heavily cratered surfaces -- at the scale of small craters of tens of meters diameter and smaller -- on the planet. In other words, while the volcano may be a geologically young feature, it is still very ancient and inactive. A segment of a lava channel -- likely a collapsed lava tube -- is present in this scene.

Location near: 17.9°N, 134.6°W
Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi)
Illumination from: lower left
Season: Northern Autumn

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