PIA19125: A Polar Smile
 Target Name:  Mars
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)
 Spacecraft:  Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)
 Instrument:  HiRISE
 Product Size:  2880 x 1800 pixels (w x h)
 Produced By:  University of Arizona/HiRISE-LPL
 Other  
Information: 
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 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA19125.tif (15.56 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA19125.jpg (300.4 kB)

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This image represents one of many monitoring sites at the South pole residual cap (SPRC). Images are taken throughout the Martian year to document changes in carbon dioxide ice coverage.

This image shows a popular spot where one of the features resembles a smiley face that is approximately 500 meters across. If you smile at Mars, sometimes it smiles back.

HiRISE is one of six instruments on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colorado. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington.

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

Image Addition Date:
2015-01-07