Subsurface Water Ice Mapping (SWIM) project

About the Subsurface Water Ice Mapping (SWIM) project:

• It aims to locate the best places to access water ice buried under the Martian surface.
• The recently released fourth set of maps is the most detailed and accurate since the project started in 2017.
• It is led by the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Arizona, and managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.
• The project uses data from several NASA missions, such as the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), the 2001 Mars Odyssey, and the defunct Mars Global Surveyor.
• SWIM used two higher-resolution cameras on MRO.
• The Context Camera data was used to improve the maps of the Northern Hemisphere.
• For the first time, the HiRISE (High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) data was used to provide the most detailed view of the ice’s edge as close to the equator as possible.
• The first phase of the SWIM project, completed in 2019, focused on the northern hemisphere. The second phase, completed in 2020, includes the southern hemisphere.
• Highlights of the new map
  • The new map includes sightings of so-called “polygon terrain,” where the seasonal expansion and contraction of subsurface ice causes the ground to form polygonal cracks, indicating more ice hidden beneath the surface.