Why didn’t we land directly on the northern polar ice cap?
We chose the arctic plains of Mars rather than the ice cap itself for two main reasons. First, it would be very difficult to safely land a spacecraft on solid ice. Second, scientists are interested in studying the interaction of water ice with the Martian dirt, which is responsible for the cracking, polygonal patterns in the surface at our landing site. This is the best place to look for this dirty ice-icy dirt matrix in the arctic highlands.
