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A Rotating False Color View of the Martian South Pole from MOLA
This is one of a series of visualizations showing false-colored renderings of the Martian topography measured by MOLA in the vicinity of the Mars Polar Lander landing site. Blue tones represent elevations of less than 2 kilometers, while reddish tones are greater than about 2.8 kilometers, relative to the mean equatorial height of Mars. The elevation of the landing site is about 2.4 km, midway into the polar layered terrain. The 400 meters (1/4 mile) resolution of the MOLA data gives a smoothed but vertically exaggerated view of the topography. At this scale it is impossible to ascertain the actual roughness at the lander's destination, forcing project directors to make their best guesses based on available data.

A rotating view of the Martian south pole using MOLA topography data    A rotating view of the Martian south pole using MOLA topography data

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The visible Martian south polar cap appears outlined in black, but the accompanying false color data shows the topographically inferred extent of the polar layered terrain.    The visible Martian south polar cap appears outlined in black, but the accompanying false color data shows the topographically inferred extent of the polar layered terrain.

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   2560 x1920   TIFF   11 MB


False color image of Mars from MOLA data. Here the color scale shows the darkest blues as roughly 8 km below the mean equatorial height, while reds indicate elevations up to 5 km above the mean equatorial height.    False color image of Mars from MOLA data. Here the color scale shows the darkest blues as roughly 8 km below the mean equatorial height, while reds indicate elevations up to 5 km above the mean equatorial height.

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   2560 x1920   TIFF   14 MB


MOLA data of Martian topography highlighting the differences in elevation between the Hellas Impact Basin and surrounding terrain. The deepest point in Hellas is roughly 8200 meters below the equatorial mean.    MOLA data of Martian topography highlighting the differences in elevation between the Hellas Impact Basin and surrounding terrain. The deepest point in Hellas is roughly 8200 meters below the equatorial mean.

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   2560 x1920   TIFF   14 MB

Video ID: SVS1999-0028 *
Animator: Tom Biddlecome
Studio: SVS
Date Completed: November 22, 1999
Duration: 1327 frames, 44.0 seconds
Scientist: David Smith (NASA/GSFC)
Instrument: MGS/MOLA
Datasets: Topography
Keywords: Mars
DLESESubject: Space science
Data Collected: 1997/09/15-1998/11
PAOID: g99-097_space
Story: stories/MOLA_south_pole/index.html
Animation Series: Mars Polar Lander



Please give credit for this visualization to NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio


*Please note: the SVS does not fulfill requests for copies of the tapes in our library. On some of our animation pages, there is a direct link to a video distribution service from which tapes, handled by the Public Affairs Office (PAO)/Goddard TV, including some of our animations may be ordered. General information on this service can be found here.


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