Illustration looking down on the erupting Olympus Mons shield volcano on Mars, viewing to the west, from an approximate altitude of 350 kilometres. Ice (white) lies on its upper slopes that tower 24 kilometres above the surrounding plain. Steep cliffs surround the volcano, rising a sheer 10 kilometres. Shield volcanoes are flat, and Olympus Mons is a massive 600 kilometres across and is the largest mountain in the solar system. The topography of this artwork was created with 3DS Max software, using data from the laser altimeter on the Mars Global Surveyor probe.