Solar-system-wide significance of Mars polar science
1. The North Polar Layered Deposits contain thousands of ice layers that record accumulation and climate history for at least several million years, making the most accessible and most complete climate record aside from the Earth’s – and the only one to record the impact of large obliquity shifts. 2. Mars Polar Science is a diverse and integrated system spanning much of the planet, above and below the surface: geographic poles, mid- and high-latitudes, numerous active volatile processes that interact with the near-surface, and the lower and middle atmosphere circulations, even influencing the upper atmosphere and atmospheric escape. 3. Mars polar processes serves as an analogue and scientific link to numerous solar system bodies. Mars has two volatile cycles that influence surface processes, atmospheric processes, and climate cycles. Mars, with many data sets and observations, serves as a proxy for outer planets and moons that undergo the same physics but with other volatile species. Additionally, technology designed for Mars polar exploration benefits exploration elsewhere. 4. Mars Polar and Atmospheric Science results are critical for future human exploration and in situ resources and the study of planetary habitability.