Mars Odyssey THEMIS Image: South Polar Cap

Simultaneous THEMIS infrared and visible images near the south polar cap in late summer. The black areas in the infrared image are near -125 deg C and correspond to solid CO2 ice. The purple regions are areas of exposed water ice at a temperature near -95 deg C. The warmest (red) areas are classic ‘dark lanes’ of frost-free soil at a temperature near -55 deg C. The right panel shows the same infrared image with a THEMIS visible image superimposed. The infrared image is approximately 32 km wide.

[Source: ASU THEMIS Science Team]

Note: this THEMIS infrared image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA’s Office of Space Science, 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/Arizona State University/U.S. Geological Survey, Flagstaff