3D print Korolev crater, the ice-filled crater on Mars
A crater full of ice on one print: Korolev's rim and the frozen mound inside it, from Mars elevation data.
Where it is 72.77°N 164.58°E Mars
- Diameter
- About 82 km (51 mi)
- Ice mound
- About 1.8 km (1.1 mi) thick
- Floor
- About 2 km (1.2 mi) below the rim
- Named for
- Sergei Korolev (1906-1966)
158 by 148 km of Mars, 160 mm across
About Korolev crater
Korolev is an impact crater about 82 km (51 mi) across in the northern lowlands of Mars, just south of the dune fields around the north polar cap. ESA says its center holds a mound of water ice about 1.8 km (1.1 mi) thick that stays all year round.
The ice survives because the crater works as a cold trap: cold air settles over the ice and shields it from warming. The crater is named for Sergei Korolev, the Russian engineer whom ESA calls the father of Soviet space technology.
Sources: IAU Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature: Korolev, ESA: A winter wonderland on Mars, DLR: Korolev crater on Mars
