Mars Express provides some answers on the origin of the moons of Mars. When will we have the end of this story?
Phobos is one of two moons March, the largest, although very small compared to us. On its surface, craters… and strange scratches. And this month seems to be inexorably approaching Mars. It could finally be broken into rings in a few tens of millions of years. All this intrigues astronomers to the max and today the Mars Express mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) offers it some answers.
Mars Express provides some answers on the origin of the moons of Mars
Launched in 2003 to study the internal structure Marchon board are the tools Mars Advanced Radar for subsurface and ionospheric surveys, Marsis his nickname. The idea is to bombard the Red Planet with low-frequency radio waves to analyze the properties of the returning waves and thus determine the structure of the soil and deeper layers.
After a major Marsis software update, astronomers were able to obtain important data during Mars Express’s first pass near Phobos. “By getting closer, we can study its structure in more detail and identify important features that we would never be able to see from afar. In the future, we are confident that we can use Marsis within 40km – the instrument was originally designed to study Mars at a distance of 250 kilometers –. The orbit of Mars Express has been adjusted to bring us as close to Phobos as possible in just a few flybys between 2023 and 2025, giving us a chance to experience“, explained Andrea Cicchetti in the ESA press release.
These data allow us to understand the origin of the phobo ? According to astronomers, the moons of Mars could be ancient asteroids captured by the red planet. This shows their appearance and composition, but not their orbits. So they might as well be chunks of rock torn apart by Mars impacts.
When will we have the end of this story?
With the data collected on September 23, the researchers were able to find signs of surface structure, but above all a very interesting subsurface feature: a layered structure that suggests that Phobos will indeed be an ancient asteroid, but also indicates the ‘formerly “stack”. “floating debris”.
Mars Express will make another flyby in the sky above Phobos. We hope that with the data obtained it will be possible to learn more. On top of the mission Exploration of the moon of Mars (MMX), together with the Japan Space Agency, will land on Phobos in 2024 to take samples and further refine them. These monsters will return to Earth in 2029. Will this help solve the mystery of the moons of Mars? Sue!
