Categories: MarsMoon

Phobos Up Close from Mars Express

[/caption]
On July 23, Europe’s Mars Express spacecraft flew only 93 kilometers from Mars’ moon Phobos, and took the most detailed images ever of the small, irregular moon. Additionally, the spacecraft made other close flybys during the past few weeks, and creating a variety of images. The moon’s grooved surface can be seen in the pictures quite clearly, but the origin of the grooves is not known. They could have been formed by ejecta thrown up from impacts on Mars, or if they could be caused by internal fissures result from the surface regolith, or soil, slipping into internal fissures. Whatever the cause, enjoy these new hi-resolution images of Phobos.

Phobos flyby. Credits: ESA/ DLR/ FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

The best images taken by Mars Express have a resolution of 3.7 m/pixel and are taken in five channels different channels to create 3-D images, and to analyze the physical properties of the surface. Measuring 27 km × 22 km × 19 km, Phobos is one of the least reflective objects in the Solar System, thought to be a capture-asteroid or a remnant of the material that formed the planets.

A Russian sample return mission called Phobos-Grunt (Phobos soil), is scheduled to launch in 2009. It is expected to land on the far-side of Phobos at a region between 5° south to 5° north, and 230° west to 235° west. This region was last imaged in the 1970s by the Viking orbiters. The inset here shows potential landing sites for the Russian mission.

Phobos. Credits: ESA/ DLR/ FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

The images obtained by several other spacecraft so far have either been of a lower resolution, or not available in 3D and have not covered the entire disc of Phobos. This is also the first time that portions of the far-side of the moon have been imaged in such high resolution (Phobos always faces Mars on the same side). Mars Express’ High Resolution Camera (HRSC) Super-resolution channel (SRC) image taken on 22 July 2008 from a distance of 4500 km, showing the illuminated edge of the potential landing site of the Russian Phobos-Grunt mission.

Phobos in 3-D. Credits: ESA/ DLR/ FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

The imaging team is still working on producing additional images of the moon, including more in 3-D like this one. Managing the close fly-bys was an operational challenge, made possible by spacecraft operations engineers and scientists who worked together to specially optimise Mars Express’s trajectory and obtain the best possible views.

Original News Source: ESA

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy has been with Universe Today since 2004, and has published over 6,000 articles on space exploration, astronomy, science and technology. She is the author of two books: "Eight Years to the Moon: the History of the Apollo Missions," (2019) which shares the stories of 60 engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make landing on the Moon possible; and "Incredible Stories from Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos" (2016) tells the stories of those who work on NASA's robotic missions to explore the Solar System and beyond. Follow Nancy on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Nancy_A and and Instagram at and https://www.instagram.com/nancyatkinson_ut/

Recent Posts

Flowing Martian Water was Protected by Sheets of Carbon Dioxide

Mars' ancient climate is one of our Solar System's most perplexing mysteries. The planet was…

10 hours ago

Japan Launches the First Wooden Satellite to Space

Space debris, which consists of pieces of spent rocket stages, satellites, and other objects launched…

11 hours ago

You Can Build a Home Radio Telescope to Detect Clouds of Hydrogen in the Milky Way

If I ask you to picture a radio telescope, you probably imagine a large dish…

15 hours ago

A Space Walking Robot Could Build a Giant Telescope in Space

The Hubble Space Telescope was carried to space inside the space shuttle Discovery and then…

2 days ago

New Report Details What Happened to the Arecibo Observatory

In 1963, the Arecibo Observatory became operational on the island of Puerto Rico. Measuring 305…

2 days ago

We Understand Rotating Black Holes Even Less Than We Thought

The theory of black holes has several mathematical oddities. Recent research shows our understanding of…

3 days ago