14.11.07

Giant Flat Mountain from Orbit

Credit: NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems
Image source with more information


Olympus Mons is a mountain of mystery. Taller than three Mount Everests and about as wide as the entire Hawaiian Island chain, this giant volcano is nearly as flat as a pancake. That is, its flanks typically only slope 2° to 5°.

Another image here from the late Mars Global Surveyor.

4 comments:

mark drago said...

-- would like to go here some day

Pacian said...

And the thing about Mars is that being on top of a huge mountain wouldn't really be that much more inhospitable than being anywhere else on the planet.

Anonymous said...

I think cosmic radiation might be significantly more intense up there. Not that it's not dangerous even at "sea" level...

Pacian said...

Yeah, I suppose you might have to throw an extra layer of protection over your space suit...