South-Pole Swiss Cheese

After the Odyssey spacecraft had completed a full Mars year of observations of the red planet Image of the Day looked back over this first mars year. Focus was on four themes: 1) the poles - with the seasonal changes seen in the retreatand expansion of the caps; 2) craters - with a variety of morphologies relating to impact materials and later alteration, both infilling and exhumation; 3) channels - the clues to liquid surface flow; and 4) volcanic flow features. While some images have helped answer questions about the history of Mars, many have raised new questions that are still being investigated as Odyssey continues collectingdata as it orbits Mars.
This image was collected December 29, 2003 during the southern summer season. The image shows the surface texture that the ice cap develops after long term sun exposure. The central portion of the image has an appearance similar to swiss cheese and represents surface ice loss.