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G. Neukum / FU Berlin / DLR / ESA
The European Space Agency's Mars Express probe captured this stereo view of the Martian moon Phobos on Jan. 9. Some areas of the image have been adjusted to fix distortions or gaps for 3-D viewing using red-blue glasses.
The European Space Agency’s Mars Express orbiter has snapped a fresh round of high-resolution images of the Martian moon Phobos, including a 3-D picture and a look at a yet-to-be-launched probe’s once and future landing site.
Phobos, the bigger of Mars' two moons, is getting repeated once-overs by Mars Express' high-resolution camera in part because a good atlas is so important for the Russian-led Phobos-Grunt mission, now due for launch in November. The Russians plan to put a lander down on the ground ("Grunt" is Russian for "ground"), and the Mars Express imagery is helping refine their mission trajectory. Phobos-Grunt's lander is to collect rock and dust samples from the surface and send them back to Earth in a capsule.
"With every Phobos image from the stereo camera, we can improve the three-dimensional model of the Martian moon," Jürgen Oberst of the German Aerospace Center's Institute of Planetary Research said Friday in an image advisory.
G. Neukum / FU Berlin / DLR / ESA
The ellipses on this image of Phobos show the previously planned landing area for the Phobos-Grunt mission in red, and the currently planned landing area in blue.
These pictures were taken on Jan. 9 during Mars Express' last scheduled encounter with the 12-by-14-by-17-mile moon. The flyby brought the orbiter within an altitude of 62 miles (100 kilometers) — so close that the camera had to turn at its maximum rate as it passed over Phobos.
Phobos' characteristic grooves show up clearly in these photos — but it's not yet clear exactly what caused them. One hypothesis is that they're splat marks from debris that was kicked up by impacts on Mars. The Planetary Society's Emily Lakdawalla explains the concept in this posting from an earlier Phobos flyby.
More about Phobos:
- Martian moon in spotlight
- Two Martian moons in one picture
- Phobos likely forged by catastrophic blast
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The second shot kind of looks like Phobos is 'MOONING' the camera!
I feel certain this rock ain't from our local star stuff, I am certain it has quite a story to tell and we will be exploring far beyond the ibex ribbon by the time we even get half of it's story decrypted...that is to say, centuries will pass till we realize it is extragalactic or whatever...cudos' to the russians...sending back a capsule of samples is quite the intelligent move, let alone setting down a robotic lab...we should have already of done that although perhaps I am being self limiting and not realizing that "we", in the manner of cooperation are!...that would be cool and if true would alter the tonality of some of my posts...till then I gotta think we have (or will be) scooped by the russians once again...they seem to do that with a bit of periodicity. Hopefully it is a kick in the butt to "our" space science program, though it must be said that both programs have done a fine job. I hope they include a drill and take sample from as deep as possible, in the meantime the mars orbiter is also helping us since long term planning includes the possibility of a temporary way point on phobos for future mars landings (and takeoffs, we hope). Does the resoulution allow us to spot caverns? natural radiation shields are surely going to be important in liue of artificial "shade" and secure fuel storage depots...if the russians are really smart, they will include one or two little experiments that harvest hydrogen nuclei (protons to ye-uns from the bean counter society)..........N3TWU
Those lines of same size craters are from an object that impacted, then skipped along the surface like a rock skipping on a pond. If you look near the crack in the lower right, you can see a pimple that was probably one of those objects. So, one object could have made fifty craters if you skipped it just right. No?
I was thinking rolled or "bounced" on the surface. Same idea, though.
Could also be a string of particles hit the surface, kinda like rapid fire. However, that doesn't explain why that happened so often.
It would help to see it from all angles, to see the trajectories of all lines.
Sparticus - Phobos doesn't have enough gravity for that to happen.
It is definitely hollow. Which they will either confirm or continue to keep secret.
Alan, thank you so much for these great 3-D posts to go along with the 3-D glasses you gave away last year. I have used them a great deal, and I really appreciate your generosity to your readers. What a class act!
Those lines are made from something strip mining the top layer of phobos. You can see where some craters have been mined more than others as the top dust layer is removed the rock surface is revealed. My guess is something is mining Helium - 3. Better photo
Better photo showing mined areas. Not only can you see the same thing on other solor bodies. //hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/images/2008/details/phobos/PSP_007769_9010_IRB_Stickney.jpg
tachyeon - Phobos' low gravity would make any kind of work there harder. If anyone was mining Helium 3, it would be done on the larger Asteroids where you don't have to space walk to retrieve things accidentally sent out into the void.
Darthdon your thinking like and earthling. Look at the color photo link I posted the mining has been going on for ages far longer than when we first ventured into space. I'm sure the mining technology is far superior and based on the how the crater looks the excess dust is shot out into space after processing the Helium 3. Probably robotic workers of some sort handle the processing. You can see the same type of mining has been done around craters on the moon, mercury, etc. Pretty much any of the moons, planets. or asteroids without an atmosphere.
tachyeon - If mining is going on everywhere that atmospheres are lacking, why bother with tiny little old Phobos? Besides, there should be plenty of Helium 3 in the Oort cloud, (that's where I'm going when I run low).
Darthdon the farther you move from the sun the less intense the solar winds are and the less Helium 3 you have on a body in space. Mecury, Moon, Phobus are in a good location. Ort cloud would not have much. Plus you need a rocky body past Jupiter its all ice.
tachyeon - Helium 3 can accumulate on icy bodies, moons, etc. A way to confirm the presence of Helium 3 in the Oort cloud would be to examine comets.