Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter

The precision maps are applicable to studies in geophysics, geology and atmospheric circulation.

MOLA also functioned as a passive radiometer and measured the radiance of the surface of Mars at 1064 nanometers.

The distance to the object can be determined by multiplying the round-trip pulse time by the speed of light and dividing it by two.

With a known attitude and position of the instrument or spacecraft, the location on the surface, which is illuminated by the laser pulse can be determined.

Above is a pole-to-pole view of Martian topography from the first MOLA global topographic model [Smith et al., Science, 1999].

MOLA topographic images of the two hemispheres of Mars. This image appeared on the cover of Science magazine in May 1999.
STL 3D model of Mars with 20× elevation exaggeration using MOLA data
The MOLA instrument.