TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – Mars is planet very different. There are huge volcanoes, deep valleys and craters that may or may not hold running water. It is certainly an extraordinary location for tourists to visit in the future.
If humans were able to go to Mars, the landing site would have to be plain for safety’s sake. However, they may also be able to land on some of the more unique geological contours.
Destinations on Mars
Here are some interesting locations on Mars for future travelers to visit according to Space.com.
1. Mount Olympus
Olympus is the most extreme volcano in the solar system. Located in the Tharsis volcanic region, it is about the same size as the state of Arizona. It is 25 kilometers high, nearly three times as high as Mount Everest on Earth. Olympus has giant shields that form after lava slowly rolls down its slopes. The slope of the mountain averages only 5 percent.
2. Tharsis Volcanic Mountains
When hiking around Olympus, you can see some of the other volcanoes in the Tharsis region. Tharsis hosts 12 giant volcanoes in a zone about 4,000 kilometers wide. Like Olympus, the mountains of Tharsis tend to be much larger than those on Earth. That’s because Mars has a weaker gravitational pull, so volcanoes grow taller.
3. Valles Marineris
Not only the largest volcano in the solar system, Mars also has the largest valley. Valles Marineris is about 3,000 kilometers long, four times longer than the Grand Canyon.
Researchers aren’t sure how Valles Marineris formed, but there is a theory that it has something to do with the formation of Tharsis. Lava moving through the volcanic region pushes the crust up, then it cracks open in other areas. Over time, the fissure developed into Valles Marineris.
4. North Pole and South Pole
Mars has two icy regions at its poles with slightly different compositions. During winter, temperatures near the north and south poles are so cold that carbon dioxide condenses from the atmosphere into ice.
The process is reversed in summer when carbon dioxide sublimes back into the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide completely disappears in the Northern Hemisphere, leaving behind water ice caps. But some carbon dioxide ice remains in the southern atmosphere. All of this ice movement has a huge impact on the Martian climate.
5. Gale Crater and Mount Aeolis
