The infrared camera had been tested earlier and an image was released Oct. 31.

The new images were taken as part of the ongoing calibration and testing of the camera system as the spacecraft orbited Mars on its 13th revolution of the planet, according to a NASA press release.

The visible image was obtained using one of five filters. The spacecraft was approximately 22,000 kilometers (about 13,600 miles) above Mars looking down toward the south. By the end of January, Odyssey will be in its final orbit, some 250 miles above the surface. Starting in early February, mission managers expect images to be returned on a daily basis.

It is late spring in the Martian southern hemisphere.

The thermal infrared image shows the temperature of the surface in color. The circular feature seen in blue is the extremely cold south polar ice cap, made mostly of carbon dioxide. The instrument measured a temperature of minus 120 degrees Celsius (minus 184 degrees Fahrenheit) on the cap. The polar cap is more than 900 kilometers (540 miles) in diameter at this time but will shrink as summer sets in.

The visible image shows details along the edge of the ice cap, as well as atmospheric hazes near the cap. The view of the surface appears hazy due to dust that still remains in the Martian atmosphere from massive dust storms that have raged over the past several months.

Also this week, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which manages Odyssey, said the spacecraft is healthy and its aerobraking procedure, designed to put the craft into final orbit, is proceeding as planned.

The infrared image covers a length of over 6,500 kilometers (3,900 miles) spanning the planet from limb to limb, with a resolution of approximately 5.5 kilometers per picture element, or pixel, (3.4 miles per pixel) at the point directly beneath the spacecraft. The visible image has a resolution of approximately 1 kilometer per pixel (.6 miles per pixel) and covers an area roughly the size of the states of Arizona and New Mexico combined.