Latest Olympus Mons Stories

Lawrence LeBlond for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online Mars has been a planet of interest for as long as humans have been going into space. And space scientists for nearly as long have dreamed of one day being able to walk on the surface of the Martian world. And still, others have dreamed of being able to colonize the planet. However, in its current state, it would be a very inhospitable environment for humans. But what if the Red Planet was a hospitable world? What if there were...

April Flowers for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online One of the most awe-inspiring sights on the planet Earth is the Grand Canyon. The Colorado River has cut through 2 billion years of geologic history, carving out a canyon that is 277 miles long and up to 18 miles wide. However, next to Valles Marineris on Mars, the Grand Canyon is a mere scratch in the ground. Valles Marineris stretches over 4000 kilometers in length and is 200 kilometers wide, with a maximum depth of 10 kilometers....

Lee Rannals for RedOrbit.com Mars Express has helped to unveil volcanic history of the Red Planet, providing more insight as to what lies underneath our celestial neighbor. The spacecraft has been floating above Mars, mapping out the planet, for five years, during which it has helped researchers find that lava grew denser over time, and that the thickness of the planet's rigid outer layers varies across the Tharsis region. The measurements were taken while Mars Express was orbiting...

Orcus Patera is an enigmatic elliptical depression near Mars's equator, in the eastern hemisphere of the planet. Located between the volcanoes of Elysium Mons and Olympus Mons, its formation remains a mystery. Often overlooked, this well-defined depression extends approximately 380 km by 140 km in a NNE"“SSW direction. It has a rim that rises up to 1800 m above the surrounding plains, while the floor of the depression lies 400"“600 m below the surroundings.  The term "˜patera' is...

U.S. scientists say the 15-mile-high Olympus Mons volcano on Mars might answer the question of whether that planet ever had, or still has, water. Rice University Assistant Professor Patrick McGovern and Associate Professor Julia Morgan used an algorithm to analyze the volcano's structure. They determined that only the presence of ancient clay sediments could account for the volcano's asymmetric shape -- and the presence of sediment indicates water was, or is, involved. Olympus Mons slopes...

Rice study hints at water "“ and life "“ under Olympus MonsThe Martian volcano Olympus Mons is about three times the height of Mount Everest, but it's the small details that Rice University professors Patrick McGovern and Julia Morgan are looking at in thinking about whether the Red Planet ever had "“ or still supports "“ life.Using a computer modeling system to figure out how Olympus Mons came to be, McGovern and Morgan reached the surprising conclusion that pockets of ancient water...

Picture a ball. It's an ordinary ball in every way except that it is roughly 4,300 miles in diameter and is moving through the cold of space some 35 million miles from Earth, and hurtling around the sun in just less than two Earth years. This is Mars.After a first glance at the Martian surface, one may quickly notice two striking global-scale features. The first is the three-mile elevation difference between the northern lowlands and southern highlands, known as the Crustal Dichotomy, which...

ESA -- The spectacular features visible today on the surface of the Red Planet indicate the past existence of Martian glaciers, but where did the ice come from? An international team of scientists have produced sophisticated climate simulations suggesting that geologically recent glaciers at low latitudes (that is near the present-day equator) may have formed through atmospheric precipitation of water-ice particles. Moreover, the results of the simulations show for the first time that the...

The European Mars Express orbiter continues to take overhead and perspective shots of landmarks on the red planet. The remarkable clarity at first glance appears to be a simulation. Scientists have pursued their mapping tour around Olympus Mons, the solar system's largest volcano, as one of the mission's goals. Astrobiology Magazine -- This perspective view, taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA's Mars Express spacecraft, shows the complex caldera of Olympus Mons on...