How do you turn a region of Mars into an STL?
Open the generator, switch it to Mars, pick a landmark from the list or drag the selection box over any other region, and choose a jigsaw puzzle or a solid ornament in a circle, square or hexagon. OrbitStudio builds the model from the elevation data and shows it in 3D before you download anything, with the terrain and the frame already separated and colored.
Generating a model and turning it around in 3D is free and needs no account. A free account adds puzzle slicing, custom frame text and a library of three models. Downloading the STL and pre-colored 3MF files uses one credit from a pass.
How much relief does Mars have?
About 30 kilometers from the lowest point to the highest, one and a half times the range on Earth, according to NASA's first global 3D map of Mars, made with the same laser altimeter. The heavily cratered south sits on average about 5 kilometers higher than the smooth northern plains, the Hellas impact basin is nearly 9 kilometers deep, and the summit of Olympus Mons stands 21,290 meters above the Mars datum, the level Martian heights are measured from.
Which regions of Mars print best?
The two giants read at true scale. Framed to fill a model 200 mm across, Olympus Mons stands about 7 mm tall as a broad dome, and Mount Sharp rises about 6.5 mm inside Gale Crater; 2x to 3x turns either into a mountain. Valles Marineris is only about 2 mm deep on a model that takes in 1,000 km of it, and wants 2x to 4x before it looks like a canyon.
Jezero Crater, where Perseverance landed, is shallow for its width: even filling the model, its rim stands only about 2 mm proud at 1x, so 2x to 4x suits it. The rovers themselves, about three meters long, are far too small for the data at any setting; the landing-site destinations show the ground each mission set down on.
Which Mars landmarks are built in?
Forty-five, in seven groups: eleven landing sites, from Viking 1 to Perseverance, China's Zhurong and Britain's Beagle 2; six volcanoes; five parts of Valles Marineris; eight craters; eight plains and basins; five channels and fossae; and both polar caps. Each one below opens the generator on Mars, already flown to it.
Landing Sites
| Beagle 2 | 11.52879° N, 90.43139° E · Open in the generator |
|---|---|
| Curiosity | 4.5895° S, 137.4417° E · Open in the generator |
| InSight | 4.502384° N, 135.623447° E · Open in the generator |
| Opportunity | 1.9462° S, 5.5266° W · Open in the generator |
| Pathfinder | 19.0949° N, 33.2528° W · Open in the generator |
| Perseverance | 18.444627° N, 77.450886° E · Open in the generator |
| Phoenix | 68.218394° N, 125.751290° W · Open in the generator |
| Spirit | 14.5692° S, 175.4729° E · Open in the generator |
| Viking 1 | 22.2692° N, 47.9507° W · Open in the generator |
| Viking 2 | 47.6673° N, 134.2809° E · Open in the generator |
| Zhurong | 25.066° N, 109.925° E · Open in the generator |
Volcanoes
| Alba Mons | 41.08° N, 110.71° W · Open in the generator |
|---|---|
| Arsia Mons | 8.26° S, 120.09° W · Open in the generator |
| Ascraeus Mons | 11.92° N, 104.08° W · Open in the generator |
| Elysium Mons | 25.02° N, 147.21° E · Open in the generator |
| Olympus Mons | 18.65° N, 133.8° W · Open in the generator |
| Pavonis Mons | 1.48° N, 112.96° W · Open in the generator |
Valles Marineris
| Candor Chasma | 6.53° S, 70.78° W · Open in the generator |
|---|---|
| Hebes Chasma | 1.07° S, 76.06° W · Open in the generator |
| Melas Chasma | 10.52° S, 72.54° W · Open in the generator |
| Noctis Labyrinthus | 6.36° S, 101.19° W · Open in the generator |
| Valles Marineris | 14.01° S, 58.59° W · Open in the generator |
Craters
| Endeavour Crater | 2.28° S, 5.2° W · Open in the generator |
|---|---|
| Gale Crater | 5.37° S, 137.81° E · Open in the generator |
| Gusev Crater | 14.53° S, 175.52° E · Open in the generator |
| Huygens Crater | 13.88° S, 55.58° E · Open in the generator |
| Jezero Crater | 18.41° N, 77.69° E · Open in the generator |
| Korolev Crater | 72.77° N, 164.58° E · Open in the generator |
| Lomonosov Crater | 65.04° N, 9.24° W · Open in the generator |
| Schiaparelli Crater | 2.71° S, 16.77° E · Open in the generator |
Plains and Basins
| Argyre Planitia | 49.84° S, 43.31° W · Open in the generator |
|---|---|
| Chryse Planitia | 28.43° N, 40.31° W · Open in the generator |
| Elysium Planitia | 2.98° N, 154.74° E · Open in the generator |
| Hellas Planitia | 42.43° S, 70.5° E · Open in the generator |
| Isidis Planitia | 13.94° N, 88.38° E · Open in the generator |
| Meridiani Planum | 0.04° S, 3.14° W · Open in the generator |
| Syrtis Major Planum | 9.2° N, 67.1° E · Open in the generator |
| Utopia Planitia | 46.74° N, 117.52° E · Open in the generator |
Channels and Fossae
| Ares Vallis | 10.29° N, 25.61° W · Open in the generator |
|---|---|
| Cerberus Fossae | 11.28° N, 166.37° E · Open in the generator |
| Kasei Valles | 25.14° N, 62.88° W · Open in the generator |
| Mawrth Vallis | 22.43° N, 16.97° W · Open in the generator |
| Nili Fossae | 22.02° N, 76.69° E · Open in the generator |
Polar Caps
| Planum Australe | 83.35° S, 157.7° E · Open in the generator |
|---|---|
| Planum Boreum | 87.32° N, 54.96° E · Open in the generator |
What is OrbitStudio?
OrbitStudio turns real NASA elevation data into 3D-printable models. You pick a region of Mars on a globe or a flat map, choose a jigsaw puzzle or a solid ornament, and get ready-to-print files with terrain and borders already separated and colored. No CAD, no mesh repair. The heights come from the laser altimeter on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor, MOLA, at up to 463 meters per pixel.
Trying it is free and needs no account: pick a region, generate it and turn it around in 3D. Downloading the model — STL files and pre-colored 3MF files for Bambu Studio or OrcaSlicer — uses one credit from a pass. The generator covers the Moon too.
The night sky, too
OrbitStudio Sky, the night-sky tool, turns the sky over any place, on any date from 1900 to 2100, into a 3D-printable star map. Its STL is free.