7 Mars Tourist Destinations That Are No Less Cool Than Those on Earth

Mars, the Earth‘s older brother, is often thought of as a merely monotonous carpet of desert, hills, and plains, decorated with rocks and loads of sand. In fact, Mars owns a unique diversity. If space tourism becomes a thing in the future, some places can even become potential Mars tourist destinations.

Mars is around 4.6 billion years old that signifies it has undergone countless phenomena during its existence. Volcano eruptions, falling asteroids, earthquakes, solar wind are occurrences that left some marvelous spots on Mars that if one day the colonies land there, they’ll be awestruck. Where are these hidden gems, then?

Several Locations of Potential Mars Tourist Destinations

1 – The North and South Poles

Mars has two icy poles to its north and south. On the surfaces of Mars’ north and south poles lie the ice caps; thick stacks of ice covering the areas. Unlike Earth’s poles, where the ice caps are purely made of water ice, Mars’ ice caps are a combination of water ice, dust, and carbon dioxide ice.

Mars during winter is frigid because carbon dioxide condenses out of the atmosphere into frost. As fall begins, the temperature decreases, causing clouds to form over each polar zone.

Carbon dioxide sublimates back in summer until it vanishes and leaves nothing but the ice caps in the north pole, while some of the CO2 in the southern pole remains.

ESA

2 – Olympus Mons

How could this one be missed? A journey to Mars tourist destinations will feel complete if it includes a visit to Olympus Mons. This is the gigantic tourist spot on the Red Planet. It stands at the height of 25 kilometers, which triples the tallest mountain on Earth, Everest.

Future tourists who are interested in climbing might try their hand while stopping by this tourist site. Some low slopes were formerly produced by lava flows on the sides of the shield volcano, available for space climbers.

This giant volcano located in the Tharsis Montes Region has been asleep for millions of years, and may it remain so since the eruption of a volcano three times the size of Everest would be inconceivable.

NASA/MOLA Science Team/ O. de Goursac, Adrian Lark

3 – Tharsis Volcanoes

A journey to Ascraeus Mons, Pavonis Mons, and Arsia Mons can add to the tourist pack for Mars travel. These shield volcanoes are neighbors to Olympus Mons, so the Tharsis region will be worth traveling for Martian tourists.

The sizes of these volcanoes are as tall as Olympus Mons. They grew a lot taller than the volcanoes on Earth because Mars has a weak gravitational force.

Public domain

4 – Valles Marineris

The tourist spots on Earth appear to be many times bigger on Mars. Apart from the volcanoes, the Martian canyon contributes to the tourism spots on Mars that will astound space travelers. The largest canyon in the Solar System, Valles Marineris, is four times the size of Arizona’s Grand Canyon.

Scientists believe Valles Marineris emerged from the Tharsis area. Lava flowing through the volcanic zone pushed the crust higher, resulting in fractures in the other parts of the Martian crust and expanded into Valles Marineris.

Flying around a canyon that stretches 3,000 kilometers on a space helicopter can be an epic adventure for future Martian explorers.

Wikipedia

5 – Hellas Planitia

Hellas Planitia may provide entertainment for tourists on Mars, especially for those who are Star Trek enthusiasts. What makes this location special is the presence of a geological structure that by chance mirrors the design of the Starfleet emblem, a fictional organization in the Star Trek media universe.

NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter discovered this chevron shape in 2019. It is the legacy of a volcanic eruption at the bottom of an impact basin, where Hellas Planitia is located in. The wind shaped it as the lava flowed and solidified.

Posing near this geological feature while striking out a Vulcan salute would make a cool souvenir photograph from a Mars trip.

Planetary Science Institute

6 – Gale Crater

NASA’s Mars Curiosity Rover landed on Gale Crater in 2012 in favor of determining a hospitable environment for life. To date, Curiosity is still operating to collect evidence of water’s presence. The discoveries done by the rover from the soil and rocks have resulted in chemical and mineral evidence, which could suggest that water might have existed in the past.

Gale Crater can count to the itinerary of Mars tourist destinations. As of today, the Curiosity rover has been working for about nine years, and there must have been loads of materials found by the rover. The future Martian travelers will probably witness them as the accomplishment of the rover after years passed.

Wikipedia

7 – Korolev Frozen Crater

Calling out ice-skating lovers! This activity is apparently not just limited to our planet. There is a crater on Mars coated in ice that does not happen seasonally but all year round. According to ESA, the Korolev crater has an 82-km diameter, located in the northern lowland of Mars.

It is a well-preserved Martian crater that is filled with ice rather than snow owing to the ‘Cold Trap‘ phenomenon. The Korolev crater is named after the Soviet rocket engineer and spacecraft designer, Sergei Korolev.

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ESA’s Mars Express High-Resolution Stereo Camera imaged this crater back in 2018, and it represents just how beautiful Martian winter wonderland is.

There are more fascinating places on Mars that may be explored as tourist destinations in addition to these seven. Whether it’s a hike, an adventurous activity, or a stunning scenery that future space travelers look for, Mars could be the destination for them. It turns out that Mars has a lot in store than imagined.

ESA

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