A new map of Mars’ gravity made with three NASA spacecraft is the most detailed to date, providing a revealing glimpse into the hidden interior of the Red Planet. The map was derived using Doppler and range tracking data collected by NASA’s Deep Space Network from three NASA spacecraft in orbit around Mars: Mars Global Surveyor, Mars Odyssey, and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
This view of the Martian gravity map shows the Tharsis volcanoes and surrounding flexure. Tharsis is a volcanic plateau on Mars thousands of miles across with the largest volcanoes in the solar system. The white areas in the center are higher-gravity regions produced by the massive Tharsis volcanoes, and the surrounding blue areas are lower-gravity regions that may be cracks in the crust (lithosphere).
Image Credit: MIT/UMBC-CRESST/GSFC