Dr David Whitehouse Laser beams bounced off the surface of Mars have produced a unique view of the largest volcano in the Solar System. Looking down from Viking Images mapped by the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft have enabled a profile of the Martian volcano to be produced with unprecedented accuracy.
Astronomers say it is raising many questions about the still poorly understood, extinct volcano.
Since it started its mapping mission around Mars in 1998, the Mars Global Surveyor has sent back thousands of high quality images. Mola then measures how long it takes for a reflection to return to the spacecraft. The measurements have been used to construct a precise topographical map of Mars with many applications in geophysics, geology and atmospheric circulation. The volcano data have been merged with an image of Olympus Mons taken by the Viking Orbiter spacecraft of the 1970s and vertically exaggerated by a factor of 10. Astronomers say that Mola's data are giving them a new view of the volcano.