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This VIS image of the south pole was taken at the end of summer. Frost will soon start to form as the season transitions into fall. Fall in the southern hemisphere means spring in the northern, so the north polar cap is just starting to thaw.

Orbit Number: 67893 Latitude: -87.0251 Longitude: 275.679 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2017-04-04 06:19

Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.