On 3-D Map, Mars Is Land of Extremes
A global study of Mars shows that the red planet is shaped like a pear, with towering volcanic mountains in the south and a smooth lowland in the north that may once have been an ocean.
A three-dimensional map of Mars, drawn from measurements taken by the Mars Global Surveyor program, shows that the planet is a land of extremes, with the highest, lowest and smoothest land forms in the solar system.
About 20 miles separates the highest and lowest points on Mars, about 1 1/2 times the range of elevation seen on Earth, said David Smith, a NASA scientist and the lead author of a study appearing today in the journal Science.
Smith said an asteroid or other space rock smashed into Mars billions of years ago, blasting out a crater deeper than Mt. Everest is high.
The crater, called Hellas, is deeper than any other in the solar system, Smith said. If it had been gouged out of the United States, he said, it would stretch from the East Coast to the Rocky Mountains. The rock and dust blasted from such a crater would cover the United States with a blanket 2 miles thick.
