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 landers
destination, forcing project directors to make their best guesses based
on available data.
This description of a site outside SERC has not been vetted by SERC staff and may be incomplete or incorrect. If you
have information we can use to flesh out or correct this record let us know.
