“Hope Probe Captures New and Accurate Images of Deimos, One of Mars’ Moons, Revealing Surprise Discoveries About its Structure and Origins”

The United Arab Emirates Space Agency released this Monday (24) new images captured by the probe ‘Hope’, sent into space to explore Marte. The photos reveal details of the moon deimoswhich is the smaller and farthest of the Red Planet’s two natural satellites.

The unmanned spacecraft managed to reach a distance of 100 kilometers from Deimos, which is a rocky object 12 kilometers wide. The photos captured by the Arab probe were the most accurate yet and presented new discoveries about the structure of the Martian moon.

The mission managed to capture images of the far side of the moon, showing areas not yet seen and not studied by humans – until now.

The new records may also reignite the debate on the origins of the moons of mars – in addition to Deimos, the red planet has Phobos (or Phobos), which is seven times larger.

Theories point out that the two moons emerged from asteroids, which were “sucked” into the orbit of Mars. But, according to new discoveries made by the Arab probe, the moons of Mars may have emerged from the Red Planet itself.

“We are not sure of the origins of Phobos and Deimos,” said Hessa Al Matroushi, mission leader. “Our observations of Deimos so far point to a planetary origin,” she said.

Scientist Christopher Edwards, responsible for one of the instruments on the Arab probe, said that the rocky composition of the two moons is more similar to the structure of Mars than that of an asteroid. This could mean that the two bodies were once part of the planet but separated from it.

The UAE Space Agency also announced that the mission to Mars will be extended for another year. The Hope probe was launched into space in 2020 and arrived in the planet’s orbit in 2021. It was the first spacecraft from an Arab country to reach Mars.