NASA and the Mars Polar Lander Team selected a target landing site of 76 degrees south latitude and 195 degrees west longitude. The landing site is on the enigmatic "polar layered deposits" (outlined in white above), which may have been created by Mars' changing climate.

Images from the Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) and topographic data from the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA), both aboard the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft currently at Mars, helped the team identify areas that were both safe and scientifically interesting.