PIA24395: Polar Cap Layers
 Target Name:  Mars
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  2001 Mars Odyssey
 Spacecraft:  2001 Mars Odyssey
 Instrument:  THEMIS
 Product Size:  249 x 2720 pixels (w x h)
 Produced By:  Arizona State University
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA24395.tif (678.2 kB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA24395.jpg (131.1 kB)

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Original Caption Released with Image:

Context image for PIA24395
Context image

Today's VIS image shows part of the south polar cap. Millions of years of alternating seasons have created the south polar cap. Ice is laid down during the winter and dust coats the ice in summer. The ice/dust cycle creates layers as the cap grows. The layers are revealed on the side of troughs that are eroded down into the cap.

Orbit Number: 84339 Latitude: -86.1557 Longitude: 147.82 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2020-12-18 18:22

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.

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU

Image Addition Date:
2021-01-29