---
title: "See Stunning New Images of a Mars Crater Full of Mile-Thick Ice"
description: "The ESA has released several photos of a massive ice-filled crater on Mars that are stunning enough to adorn a Christmas card."
date: "2018-12-21"
modified: "2018-12-21"
authors:
  - name: "Kristin Houser"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/kristin"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/ice-filled-crater-mars"
categories:
  - "Astronomy"
  - "Mars"
  - "Science & Energy"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "ESA"
  - "korolev crater"
  - "mars"
  - "mars express"
  - "the digest"
---

# See Stunning New Images of a Mars Crater Full of Mile-Thick Ice

![The ESA has released several photos of a massive ice-filled crater on Mars that are stunning enough to adorn a Christmas card.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/ice-filled-crater-mars.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin\</em\>*

## Martian Wonderland

Christmas is always white at Mars's Korolev crater.

In fact, every day is a snowy expanse of white — the 50-mile-wide impact crater is filled with ice year-round due to the cold air trapped within it.

See for yourself. On Thursday, the European Space Agency (ESA) [released](<https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/dec/21/mars-express-beams-back-images-of-ice-filled-korolev-crater>) several [icy](<http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/2018/12/Perspective_view_of_Korolev_crater>), [snowy images](<http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/2018/12/Plan_view_of_Korolev_crater>) of the crater, and they're stunning enough to adorn the cover of a Martian Christmas card.

## Express Delivery

The ESA generated the images of Mars's ice-filled crater using data from its [Mars Express probe](<https://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Mars_Express>), which entered Mars's orbit — appropriately enough — on Christmas Day in 2003.

To produce the images, the ESA had to combine data from five Mars Express orbits, with the most recent taking place on April 4, 2018. The [High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC)](<https://www.dlr.de/dlr/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-10364/548_read-400/#/gallery/657>), an instrument capable of capturing images in three dimensions and in color, recorded the data.

![](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Perspective_view_of_Korolev_crater-1200x675.jpg>)
*Image Credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin*

## Water World

The ice at the center of the Martian crater is more than a mile thick. In total, Korolev contains 530 cubic miles of water ice. That's more than four times the volume of [Lake Erie](<https://www.epa.gov/greatlakes/physical-features>).

The fact that we even know such a massive ice-filled crater exists on Mars is remarkable. After all, less than two decades ago, we weren't even sure the Red Planet had [any form of water](<https://futurism.com/martian-lakes-alien-life>) at all. Now we have the technology in place to see a massive crater full of it — in stunning detail.

![](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Plan_view_of_Korolev_crater-1200x1381.jpg>)
*Image Credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin*

**READ MORE:** [Mars Express Beams Back Images of Ice-Filled Korolev Crater](<https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/dec/21/mars-express-beams-back-images-of-ice-filled-korolev-crater>) \[*The Guardian*\]

***More on Mars water: [Mars Used To Be Dotted With Life-Friendly Lakes](<https://futurism.com/martian-lakes-alien-life>)***

### Author social links  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinjhouser>)