[LINK] Phobos as seen by Mars Express

[rfmcdonald]

Phobos as seen by Mars Express
Originally uploaded by rfmcdpei

I certainly didn't take this photo. This, a close-up picture of Phobos, the larger of Mars' two asteroidal moons, was taken by the European Space Agency's Mars Express probe. This picture was taken from this 80 Beats blog post. The two red spots indicate possible landing spots for Phobos-Grunt, a Russian sample return mission. 80 Beats notes that even more is possible:

Phobos is an odd little moon: it’s a potato-shaped rock measuring only 12 miles by 17 miles. Scientists believe the moon is relatively porous, but say its origin is still open to debate. Researchers suspect the moon is simply a collection of planetary rubble that coalesced around the Red Planet sometime after its formation. Another explanation is that it is a captured asteroid [BBC News]. Scientists believe that Phobos is being slowly pulled towards Mars, and tidal forces are expected to tear it apart one day.

The moon has drawn more attention lately, because it’s increasingly seen as a steppingstone for Mars-bound astronauts. Last month, NASA shifted its focus from sending humans back to the moon to a “flexible path” that includes the moons of Mars as potential destinations. The idea is that low-gravity locales such as Phobos (and Mars’ other moon, Deimos) should be easier to get to because they’re more accommodating for landing and ascent [MSNBC].