Solar System’s Largest Volcano Captured in New Mars Orbiter Photo

Science

NASA is celebrating a significant milestone achieved by its Odyssey orbiter, which has completed 100,000 orbits around Mars. This achievement was reached on June 30, marking the agency’s longest-running mission on the red planet.

The Odyssey orbiter, launched in 2001 and named after Arthur C. Clarke’s novel ‘2001: A Space Odyssey,’ has been instrumental in Mars exploration. Over its 23-year mission, it has captured 1.4 million images and provided support for six other Mars missions.

One of the highlights of the celebration is a stunning image of Olympus Mons, the largest volcano in the solar system, taken by Odyssey. In addition to mapping minerals and surface ice, the orbiter has been photographing Mars’ topography and identifying potential landing sites for future missions.

The latest image features Olympus Mons, which has a base spanning 600 kilometers and rises 27 kilometers high. This particular photo is unique because it was taken from the planet’s horizon, offering a new perspective.

“Usually, we see Olympus Mons in narrow strips from above, but by pointing the spacecraft toward the horizon, we can capture in a single image how massive it is,” explained Jeffrey Plaut, Odyssey’s project scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), which manages the spacecraft.

Interestingly, these horizon views are similar to what astronauts would see from Martian orbit. Scientists believe this will help them understand more about clouds and airborne dust on Mars, providing insights into the Martian atmosphere.

The image of Olympus Mons shows bands of colors, with the blue indicating atmospheric dust during early fall. The purple layer likely consists of red dust mixed with water-ice clouds, while the blue-green band represents water-ice clouds.

NASA noted that the horizon imaging experiment began before 2008 and has been crucial in gathering data for landing missions.

“Maintaining a mission for this long requires careful monitoring and a historical timeline of scientific planning and execution,” said Joseph Hunt, Odyssey’s project manager at JPL. “We look forward to collecting more valuable scientific data in the coming years.”

(Image: NASA)