JavaScript is required
JPL Logo
Image

Spring at the South Pole

June 17, 2020
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows part of the south polar cap. The sun has only just risen on the south pole.
Context Image

Today's VIS image shows part of the south polar cap. The sun has only just risen on the south pole. It is the start of the spring season and everything is still covered in frost. As the frost sublimates (changes from solid to gas) different surface features will become apparent.

Orbit Number: 81244 Latitude: -86.5737 Longitude: 165.076 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2020-04-07 22:16

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.

Keep Exploring