NAVIGATING MARS: ALTITUDE AND LONGITUDE ISSUES
The rules have changed for naming altitudes and longitudes. (Updated 4/16/2019)
Figure 1 - There are widely different altitudes published for Olympus Mons.
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LONGITUDE SYSTEMS IN USE AND MARS LANDING COORDINATES.
To find specific sites on Mars, you can now use Google Mars. The landing sites for Mars landers are given below; however the topography (MOLA) map included further below appears to use a different coordinate system for denoting longitudes. On Earth longitude coordinates are given from the Prime Meridian (0O) to 180O East or West. Phoenix was plotted by this writer, but for Viking 1, Viking 2, and PathFinder (MPF) there are West longitudes in excess of 180O. In the case of Viking 1 it looks like the 49.97O West correlates with the plotted longitude of about 310O (360-49.97O West).
For MPF, the table given longitude of 33.22O West correlates well with the plotted value of about 327 (360-33.22O West). The Google map shows Isidis, which is where the British Beagle was supposed to land, but that probe failed. So the map must have been produced before that failure and the landing of Phoenix that I had to add. This leaves us with one problem, Viking 2. It is plotted at about 135 (East), but the chart lists it as landing at 225.74O West. However, these longitude positions are basically equal. There are two systems in use for longitudes on Mars:
LANDER | DATE LANDED | LATITUDE | LONGITUDE |
VIKING 1 | JULY 20, 1976 | 22.48 N (Smith et al. states 22.2692 N) | 49.97 W (Smith et al. states 311.8113 E) |
VIKING 2 | SEP 3, 1976 | 47.97 N (Smith et al. states 47.6680 N) | 225.74 W (Smith et al. states 134.0430 E) |
PATHFINDER | JULY 4, 1997 | 19.13 N (Smith et al. states 19.0949 N) | 33.22 W (Smith et al. states 326.5092 E) |
SPIRIT at Gusev Crater | JAN 4, 2004 | 14.5718 S | 175.4785 W (Mars globe shows 184.5W, 14.7 S) |
OPPORTUNITY | JAN 25, 2004 | 1.95 S | 354.47 E |
PHOENIX | MAY 25, 2008 | 68 N | 234 E |
MARS SCIENCE LAB | AUG 6, 2012 | 4.59 S | 137.44 E (222.56W) |
INSIGHT | NOV 26, 2018 | 4.5 N | 135 E (225 W) |
Name[4] | Number[4] | Area[4] |
Mare Boreum (North Pole) | MC-01 | Latitude 65° to 90°, Longitude 0° to 360° |
MC-02 | Latitude 30° to 65°, Longitude 120° to 180° | |
MC-03 | Latitude 30° to 65°, Longitude 60° to 120° | |
MC-04 | Latitude 30° to 65°, Longitude 0° to 60° | |
MC-05 | Latitude 30° to 65°, Longitude 300° to 360° | |
MC-06 | Latitude 30° to 65°, Longitude 240° to 300° | |
MC-07 | Latitude 30° to 65°, Longitude 180° to 240° | |
MC-08 | Latitude 0° to 30°, Longitude 135° to 180° | |
MC-09 | Latitude 0° to 30°, Longitude 90° to 135° | |
MC-10 | Latitude 0° to 30°, Longitude 45° to 90° | |
MC-11 | Latitude 0° to 30°, Longitude 0° to 45° | |
MC-12 | Latitude 0° to 30°, Longitude 315° to 360° | |
MC-13 | Latitude 0° to 30°, Longitude 270° to 315° | |
MC-14 | Latitude 0° to 30°, Longitude 225° to 270° | |
MC-15 | Latitude 0° to 30°, Longitude 180° to 225° | |
MC-16 | Latitude -30° to 0°, Longitude 135° to 180° | |
MC-17 | Latitude -30° to 0°, Longitude 90° to 135° | |
MC-18 | Latitude -30° to 0°, Longitude 45° to 90° | |
MC-19 | Latitude -30° to 0°, Longitude 0° to 45° | |
MC-20 | Latitude -30° to 0°, Longitude 315° to 360° | |
MC-21 | Latitude -30° to 0°, Longitude 270° to 315° | |
MC-22 | Latitude -30° to 0°, Longitude 225° to 270° | |
MC-23 | Latitude -30° to 0°, Longitude 180° to 225° | |
MC-24 | Latitude -65° to -30°, Longitude 120° to 180° | |
MC-25 | Latitude -65° to -30°, Longitude 60° to 120° | |
MC-26 | Latitude -65° to -30°, Longitude 0° to 60° | |
MC-27 | Latitude -65° to -30°, Longitude 300° to 360° | |
MC-28 | Latitude -65° to -30°, Longitude 240° to 300° | |
MC-29 | Latitude -65° to -30°, Longitude 180° to 240° | |
Mare Australe (South Pole) | MC-30 | Latitude -90° to -65°, Longitude 0° to 360° |