Science and Exploration

The Caldera of Olympus Mons

By Keith Cowing
Press Release
May 15, 2022
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The Caldera of Olympus Mons
The Caldera of Olympus Mons
HiRISE

HiRISE is not able to capture the entire caldera at the summit of Olympus Mons, so we try to get as many images as possible to create a potential mosaic.
This image shows the northeastern rim of the caldera, and our main goal is to track any potential changes from previous images.

Olympus Mons is famously the tallest volcano in the Solar System. However, it’s so wide that climbing it would seem more like laboring up a hill, and not making a vertical ascent as you would on Mt. Everest.

Image is less than 5 km (3 mi) top to bottom and is 258 km (160 mi) above the surface. North is to the left. For full images including scale bars, visit the source link.

NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona larger image

SpaceRef co-founder, Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA, Away Teams, Journalist, Space & Astrobiology, Lapsed climber.