NASA Releases Mars Polar Cap Panoramas

NASA has released two new photo mosaics assembled from Mars Global Surveyor imagery that provide a compelling look at a broad expanse of Martian polar terrain. The composition of the Martian polar deposits is both similar and utterly alien when compared to Earth’s polar regions. According to Malin Space Science Systems “The layers exposed in the south polar residual cap are thought to contain detailed records of Mars’ climate history over the last 100 million years or so. Because the south polar terrains are so strange and new to human eyes, no one (yet) has entirely adequate explanations as to what is being seen.”

° New Global Surveyor photos reveal exotic Martian landscape, 10 April 2000, NASA press release

° High-Resolution South Polar Cap Mosaics, 10 April 2000, MSSS

° Mars Exploration: AAAS Ponders: “Where do we go from here?”, 20 February 2000, SpaceRef

° A Feast for the Eyes: A Large Collection of Stunning High Resolution Views of Martian Polar Terrain has been Released, 8 March 2000, SpaceRef

° NASA Releases Eighth-degree topographic shade maps of Mars, 6 March 2000, SpaceRef