India's Close-up View of Mars

India's Mars mission, Mangalyaan, has spent more than 15 months in a highly elliptical orbit making scientific observations of Mars’ atmosphere, and the spacecraft is still “in fine health,” according to an ISRO official. The mission has cost India about 4.5 billion rupees ($66 million).

Olympus Mons is one of the largest volcanoes in the Martian region. It is a shield volcano whose diameter is about the size of Arizona—624 km (388 mi.) wide. The volume is about 100 times larger than Hawaii’s Mauna Loa. 

The Shield Volcano Tharsis Tholus is a steep, dome-shaped volcano that rises about 9 km in elevation, located in the eastern Tharsis region on Mars.

The Pital crater is an impact crater located in the eastern part of Valles Marineris—a region in Mars that is home to the largest system of canyons on the planet.

Phobos, the larger of Mars’ two moons, is silhouetted against the Martian surface.