PHOBOS (MARS MOON)

New research is changing our ideas about the history of Mars's moons and we might have found the most active region of space. Host: Hank Green For special, curated artifacts of this universe, check out https://scishowfinds.com/ ---------- Support SciShow by becoming a patron on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/scishow ---------- Dooblydoo thanks go to the following Patreon supporters: Jerry Perez, Lazarus G, Kelly Landrum Jones, Sam Lutfi, Kevin Knupp, Nicholas Smith, D.A. Noe, alexander wadsworth, سلطان الخليفي, Piya Shedden, KatieMarie Magnone, Scott Satovsky Jr, Charles Southerland, Bader AlGhamdi, James Harshaw, Patrick D. Ashmore, Candy, Tim Curwick, charles george, Saul, Mark Terrio-Cameron, Viraansh Bhanushali, Kevin Bealer, Philippe von Bergen, Chris Peters, Justin Lentz ---------- Like SciShow? Want to help support us, and also get things to put on your walls, cover your torso and hold your liquids? Check out our awesome products over at DFTBA Records: http://dftba.com/scishow ---------- Looking for SciShow elsewhere on the internet? Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/scishow Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/scishow Tumblr: http://scishow.tumblr.com Instagram: http://instagram.com/thescishow ---------- Sources: Mars Moons: http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/4/4/eaar6887.full http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1992mars.book.1283B https://www.space.com/9201-mars-moon-phobos-forged-catastrophic-blast.html https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0019103580901402 https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/07/160704144236.htm https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0019103583710596 http://www.planetary.brown.edu/planetary/geo287/PhobosDeimos/papers/Criton2015Icarus-giantimpact.pdf https://www.nature.com/articles/ngeo2742 https://phys.org/news/2018-04-swri-martian-moons-formation-large.html https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0019103583711759 https://arxiv.org/pdf/0903.3434.pdf http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Phobos_flyby_success http://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EPSC2010/EPSC2010-211.pdf SPT2349-56: http://nature.com/articles/doi:10.1038/s41586-018-0025-2 https://arxiv.org/abs/1610.05201 https://arxiv.org/abs/1705.01634 https://pole.uchicago.edu/public/southpole.html http://firstgalaxies.org/explore.html http://www.astronomynotes.com/galaxy/s9.htm ------ Images: https://mars.nasa.gov/allaboutmars/extreme/moons/phobos/ https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_1302.html https://www.spacetelescope.org/videos/opo1729a/ https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/details.php?id=PIA02820 https://www.swri.org/press-release/swris-martian-moons-model-indicates-formation-following-large-impact https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-selects-instrument-for-future-international-mission-to-martian-moons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:South_pole_telescope_nov2009.jpg https://www.eso.org/public/usa/images/eso1812b/ https://www.eso.org/public/usa/images/?search=SPT2349-56

These observations of Phobos and Saturn were taken by the Super Resolution Channel of the High Resolution Stereo Camera on Mars Express. The video comprises 30 separate images acquired during Mars Express orbit 16 346 on 26 November 2016. The slight up and down movement of Saturn and Phobos in these images is caused by the oscillation of the spacecraft’s orientation after completing the turn towards the moon. Phobos can be seen in the foreground, partially illuminated, with Saturn visible as a small ringed dot in the distance. For more information go to http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Mars_Express/Mars_Express_views_moons_set_against_Saturn_s_rings

The Mars Odyssey orbiter's Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) camera captured imagery of the moons on Feb. 15, 2018. Credit: Space.com / imagery courtesy: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/SSI / produced and edited by Steve Spaleta http://www.twitter.com/stevespaleta

According to NASA, powerful solar eruptions could "electrify" Martian moon, Phobos, potentially causing an issue for robotic missions in the future.

My Twitter: https://twitter.com/Dreksler_Astral Phobos and Deimos are two very small Martian moons, they also have some very interesting surfaces. So what would standing on these small moons be like? Watch the video to find out. Intro and outro footage made with Space Engine. Music: Clouds by Huma-Huma Dreksler Astral

Mars has two moons, Phobos and Deimos. Both are small, airless bodies with irregular shapes. Because they lack protective atmospheres and magnetospheres, Phobos and Deimos are directly exposed to the solar wind for part of their orbits. Now, a study from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center suggests that the solar wind creates a complex electrical environment around Phobos, giving its night side and shadowed craters a static electric charge. This could impact plans for future robotic and human explorers to study the moons of Mars. Learn more about this finding: https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/goddard/2017/mars-electric-moons Music provided by Killer Tracks: "Innovations" by Pascal Lengagne Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Conceptual Image Lab/Dan Gallagher This video is public domain and along with other supporting visualizations can be downloaded from the Scientific Visualization Studio at: http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20252 If you liked this video, subscribe to the NASA Goddard YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/NASAExplorer Follow NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center · Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/NASA.GSFC · Twitter http://twitter.com/NASAGoddard · Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/ · Instagram http://www.instagram.com/nasagoddard/ · Google+ http://plus.google.com/+NASAGoddard/posts

When the Hubble Space Telescope observed Mars near opposition in May, 2016, a sneaky companion photobombed the picture. Phobos, the Greek personification of fear, is one of two tiny moons orbiting Mars. In 13 exposures over 22 minutes, Hubble captured a timelapse of Phobos moving through its 7-hour 39-minute orbit. Read more information here: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2017/hubble-sees-martian-moon-orbiting-the-red-planet Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Katrina Jackson Music credit: "Neighborhood Conspiracy" by Brice Davoli [SACEM]; Koka Media [SACEM], Universal Publishing Production Music (France) [SACEM]; Killer Tracks Production Music This video is public domain and along with other supporting visualizations can be downloaded from the Scientific Visualization Studio at: https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11946 If you liked this video, subscribe to the NASA Goddard YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/NASAExplorer Or subscribe to NASA’s Goddard Shorts HD Podcast: https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/iTunes/f0004_index.html Follow NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center · Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NASA.GSFC · Twitter https://twitter.com/NASAGoddard · Flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/ · Instagram https://www.instagram.com/nasagoddard/ · Google+ https://plus.google.com/+NASAGoddard/posts

Consider supporting Space Fan News: https://patreon.com/DeepAstronomy to ensure you get current space & astronomy news each week! Space Fan News Theme by Stephen Dubois available for download here: http://ancienteyesmusic.com Links to this week's stories: Supernova 1987a Turns 30: http://www.spacetelescope.org/news/heic1704/ NASA's MAVEN Almost hits Phobos: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=6764 New TESS Launch: https://tess.gsfc.nasa.gov/schedule.html Follow DeepAstronomy on Twitter: @DeepAstronomy Like DeepAstronomy on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DeepAstronomy/ Like Space Fan News on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SpaceFanNews/ Follow DeepAstronomy on Google+ http://google.com/+DeepAstronomy http://google.com/+TonyDarnell We also have a great Google+ Community, come share your thoughts and join the discussion! https://plus.google.com/communities/109849939648748938781t

NASA's MAVEN spacecraft and the Martian moon Phobos would have come within 7 seconds of each other if mission controllers didn’t boost the probe’s velocity. The burn came on Feb. 28, 2017, one week before they could have collided.

How and Why should we explore the moons of Mars? Senior NASA leadership has often observed that humans are closer to their first mission to Mars than ever before in history. As part of current thinking of human exploration of the Red Planet, a number of scientists and engineers argue that the planet’s moons are exciting goals in their own right. Join Tony Darnell, Harley Thronson and Alberto Conti as they discuss with Pascal Lee (Mars Institute, SETI Institute, & NASA Ames Research Center) the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of exploring the moons of Mars. The best place to watch the hangout will be on YouTube, broadcast on the Deep Astronomy Channel. Follow DeepAstronomy on Twitter: @DeepAstronomy Like DeepAstronomy on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DeepAstronomy/ Like Space Fan News on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SpaceFanNews/ Follow DeepAstronomy on Google+ http://google.com/+DeepAstronomy http://google.com/+TonyDarnell We also have a great Google+ Community, come share your thoughts and join the discussion! https://plus.google.com/communities/109849939648748938781

Phoebe is an irregular satellite of Saturn with a mean diameter of 213 km. It was discovered by William Henry Pickering on 17 March 1899 from photographic plates that had been taken starting on 16 August 1898 at the Boyden Observatory near Arequipa, Peru, by DeLisle Stewart. It was the first satellite to be discovered photographically. Phoebe was the first target encountered upon the arrival of the Cassini spacecraft in the Saturn system in 2004, and is thus unusually well-studied for an irregular satellite of its size. Cassini's trajectory to Saturn and time of arrival were specifically chosen to permit this flyby. After the encounter and its insertion into orbit, Cassini did not go much beyond the orbit of Iapetus. Phoebe is roughly spherical and has a differentiated interior. It was spherical and hot early in its history and was battered out of roundness by repeated impacts. It is thought to be a captured planetesimal from the Kuiper belt. History Discovery Phoebe was discovered by William Henry Pickering on 17 March 1899 from photographic plates that had been taken starting on 16 August 1898 at the Boyden Observatory near Arequipa, Peru, by DeLisle Stewart. It was the first satellite to be discovered photographically. Naming[edit] Phoebe was named after Phoebe, a Titan in Greek mythology that was associated with the Moon. It is also designated Saturn IX in some scientific literature. The IAU nomenclature standards have stated that features on Phoebe are to be named after characters in the Greek myth of Jason and the Argonauts. In 2005, the IAU officially named 24 craters (Acastus, Admetus, Amphion, Butes, Calais, Canthus, Clytius, Erginus, Euphemus, Eurydamas, Eurytion, Eurytus, Hylas, Idmon, Iphitus, Jason, Mopsus, Nauplius, Oileus, Peleus, Phlias, Talaus, Telamon, and Zetes). Toby Owen of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, chairman of the International Astronomical Union Outer Solar System Task Group said: We picked the legend of the Argonauts for Phoebe as it has some resonance with the exploration of the Saturn system by Cassini–Huygens. We can't say that our participating scientists include heroes like Hercules and Atalanta, but they do represent a wide, international spectrum of outstanding people who were willing to take the risk of joining this voyage to a distant realm in hopes of bringing back a grand prize. Orbit Phoebe's orbit is retrograde, i.e. it orbits Saturn opposite to Saturn's rotation. For more than 100 years, Phoebe was Saturn's outermost known moon, until the discovery of several smaller moons in 2000. Phoebe is almost 4 times more distant from Saturn than its nearest major neighbor (Iapetus), and is substantially larger than any of the other moons orbiting planets at comparable distances. All of Saturn's regular moons except Iapetus orbit very nearly in the plane of Saturn's equator. The outer irregular satellites follow moderately to highly eccentric orbits, and none is expected to rotate synchronously as all the inner moons of Saturn do (except for Hyperion). See Saturn's satellites' families. Phoebe ring The Phoebe ring is one of the rings of Saturn. This ring is tilted 27 degrees from Saturn's equatorial plane (and the other rings). It extends from at least 128 to 207 times the radius of Saturn; Phoebe orbits the planet at an average distance of 215 Saturn radii. The ring is about 20 times as thick as the diameter of the planet. Because the ring's particles are presumed to have originated from micrometeoroid impacts on Phoebe, they should share its retrograde orbit, which is opposite to the orbital motion of the next inner moon, Iapetus. Inwardly migrating ring material would thus strike Iapetus's leading hemisphere, created its two-tone coloration. Although very large, the ring is virtually invisible—it was discovered using NASA's infrared Spitzer Space Telescope. Source: www.nasa.gov and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoebe_(moon) CREDIT: National Aeronautics and Space Administration Enjoy, Like and Subscribe:)

An AstroGrav video that shows a simulation of Mars and its two moons, Phobos and Deimos, from 2015 to 2021. You can watch the changing size, brightness, and phase of Mars, as well as the changing aspect of the moons' orbits. In particular, Mars appears much bigger and brighter than usual at the three oppositions in May 2016, July 2018, and October 2020. The Sun can be seen flashing past when Mars is at conjunction - on the opposite side of the Sun to the Earth - in July 2017 and September 2019. To give an idea of scale, the apparent diameter of the full moon would be about twelve times the width of this video.

Martian moon mystery: Phobos and Deimos may have been created by a giant asteroid the size of Pluto hitting the red planet The Red Planet's tiny, misshapen moons Phobos and Deimos are widely believed to be captured asteroid - but a new theory claims they may once been part of the red planet. Researchers modelled the effect of a giant impact on the red planet - and now believe it may have formed the moons.

Phobos, a moon of Mars, is streaked with shallow grooves. Scientists long thought the grooves were caused by meteor impacts. But new computer modeling shows they may be “stretch marks,” early signs of Phobos’s inevitable demise. #moon #mars #NASA #space #Phobos NASA press release: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/phobos-is-falling-apart This video and all media incorporated herein (including text, images, and audio) are the property of the American Museum of Natural History or its licensors, all rights reserved. The Museum has made this video available for your personal, educational use. You may not use this video, or any part of it, for commercial purposes, nor may you reproduce, distribute, publish, prepare derivative works from, or publicly display it without the prior written consent of the Museum. © American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY

The long, shallow grooves lining the surface of Phobos are likely early signs of the structural failure that will ultimately destroy this moon of Mars. Orbiting a mere 6,000 kilometers above the surface of Mars, Phobos is closer to its planet than any other moon in the solar system.

One of the greatest unresolved mysteries in Planetary Science is how the moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos, formed. What theories are there? How can we tell which one is right? How might a sample return mission to the moons of Mars work? -----Further information and references----- *ESA CDF-145(A) Phobos sample return mission feasibility study: sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/doc.cfm?fobjectid=55322 *A recent review of the composition of Phobos and Deimos: Pieters, C.M., Murchie, S., Thomas, N., Britt, D. (2014), Composi-tion of surface materials on the Moons of Mars, Planet. Sp, Sci., 102, 144-151, doi:10.1016/j.pss.2014.02.008. (Google doi reference to find pdf of papers) *Review of Phobos formation theories: Rosenblatt, P. (2011), The origin of the Martian moons revisited, Astron. Astrophys. Rev, 19, 1–26, doi:10.1007/s00159-011-0044-6. *The value of Phobos sample return: Murchie, S.L., Britt, D.T., Pieters, C.M. (2014), The value of Phobos sample return, Planet. Space Sci., 102, 176-182, doi:10.1016/j.pss.2014.04.014. ******Figure references in video***** *Early observation of Phobos: Tolson, R.H., et al. (1978), Viking first encounter of Phobos: Pre-liminary results, Science 199, 61-64, doi:10.1126/science. 199.4324.61 Pang, K., Pollack, J., Veverka, J., Lane, A., Ajello, J. (1978), The composition of Phobos: evidence for carbonaceous chondrite surface from spectral analysis, Science, 199, 64–66, doi:10.1126/science.199.4324.64. Thomas, P. (1979), Surface features of Phobos and Deimos, Icarus, 40, 223–243, doi:10.1016/0019-1035(79)90069-1. *Phobos 1 and 2: Avanesov, A., et al. (1989), Television observations of Phobos: first results, Nature, 341, 585–587, doi:10.1038/341585a0. Ksanfomality, L.V., Moroz, V.I., Bibring, J.P., Combes, M., Soufflot, A., Ganpantzerova, O.F., Goroshkova, N.V., Zharkov, A.V., Nikitin, G.E., Petrova, E.V (1989), Spatial variations in thermal and al-bedo properties of Phobos's surface, Nature, 341 , 588–591, doi:10.1038/341588a0. *Phobos-Grunt: Marov, M.Ya., Avduevsky, V.S., Akim, E.L., Eneev, T.M., Kremnev, R.S., Kulikov, S.D., Pichkhadze, K.M., Popov, G.A., Rogovsky, G.N. (2004), Phobos-Grunt: Russian sample return mission, Adv. Sp. Res., 33, 2276–2280, doi:10.1016/S0273-1177(03)00515-5. *Desiccated Phyllosilicates on Phobos? Fraeman, A.A., et al. (2014), Spectral absorptions on Phobos and Deimos in the visible/near infrared wavelengths and composi-tional constraints, Icarus, 229C, 196–205, doi: 10.1016/ j.icarus.2013.11.021. *Asteroid capture hypothesis: Hunten, D.M. (1979), Capture of Phobos and Deimos by pho-toatmospheric drag, Icarus, 37, 113–123, doi:10.1016/0019-1035(79)90119-2. Sasaki, S. (1990), Origin of Phobos – Aerodynamic drag capture by the primary atmosphere of Mars, Lunar Planet. Sci., 21, 1069. Burns, J.A. (1992), Contradictory clues as to the origin of the Martian moons, Univ. Arizona Press,Tucson, Arizona, USA, pp. 1283–1301. *Giant impactor hypothesis: Singer, S.F. (1966), On the origin of the martian satellites Phobos and Deimos, Dollfus, A. (Ed.), Moon and Planets, COSPAR Sev-enth Int. Space Sci. Symp., Vienna, 317–321. Craddock, R.A. (2011), Are Phobos and Deimos the result of a giant impact? Icarus, 211, 1150–1161, doi:10.1016/ j.icarus.2010.10.023.

What fate awaits Phobos, one of the moons of Mars? More stories at: http://www.universetoday.com/ Follow us on Twitter: @universetoday Follow us on Tumblr: http://universetoday.tumblr.com/ Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/universetoday Google+ - https://plus.google.com/+universetoday/ Instagram - http://instagram.com/universetoday Team: Fraser Cain - @fcain Jason Harmer - @jasoncharmer Susie Murph - @susiemmurph Brian Koberlein - @briankoberlein Chad Weber - [email protected] Kevin Gill - @kevinmgill Created by: Fraser Cain and Jason Harmer Edited by: Chad Weber Music: Left Spine Down - “X-Ray” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tcoZNrSveE&feature=youtu.be “All these worlds are yours except Europa, attempt no landing there.” As much as I love Arthur C. Clarke and his books, I've got to disagree with his judgement on which moons we should be avoiding. Europa is awesome. It’s probably got a vast liquid ocean underneath its icy surface. There might even be life swimming down there, ready to be discovered. Giant freaky Europa whales or some kind of alien sharknado. Oh man, I just had the BEST idea for a movie. So yea, Europa’s fine. The place we should really be avoiding is the Martian Moon Phobos. Why? What’s wrong with Phobos? Have I become some kind of Phobo...phobe? Is there any good reason to avoid this place? Well first, its name tells us all we need to know. Phobos is named for the Greek god of Horror, and I don’t mean like the usual gods of horror as in Clive Barker, John Carpenter or Wes Craven, I mean that Phobos is the actual personification of Fear… possibly with a freaky lion’s head. And… there’s also the fact that Phobos is doomed. Literally doomed. Living on borrowed time. Its days are numbered. It’s been poisoned and there’s no antidote. It’s got metal shards in its heart and the battery on it’s electro-magnet is starting to brown out. More specifically, in a few million years, the asteroid-like rock is going to get torn apart by the Martian gravity and then get smashed onto the planet. It all comes down to tidal forces. Our Moon takes about 27 days to complete an orbit, and our planet takes around 24 hours to complete one rotation on its axis. Our Moon is pulling unevenly on the Earth and slowing its rotation down. To compensate, the Moon is slowly drifting away from us. We did a whole episode about this which we’ll link at the end of the episode. On Mars, Phobos only takes 8 hours to complete an orbit around the planet. While the planet takes almost 25 hours to complete one rotation on its axis. So Phobos travels three times around the planet for every Martian day. And this is a problem. It’s actually speeding up Mars’ rotation. And in exchange, it’s getting closer and closer to Mars with every orbit. The current deadpool gives the best odds on Phobos taking 30 to 50 million years to finally crash into the planet. The orbit will get lower and lower until it reaches a level known as the Roche Limit. This is the point where the tidal forces between the near and far sides of the moon are so different that it gets torn apart. Then Mars will have a bunch of teeny moons from the former Phobos. And then good news! Those adorable moonlets will get further pulverized until Mars has a ring. But then bad news… that ring will crash onto the planet in a cascade of destruction to be described as “the least fun balloon drop of all time”. So, you probably wouldn't want to live on Mars then either. Count yourself lucky. What were the chances that we would exist in the Solar System at a time that Phobos was a thing, and not a string of impacts on the surface of Mars. Enjoy Phobos while you can, but remember that real estate there is temporary. Might I suggest somewhere in the alien sharknado infested waters of Europa instead? What do you think. Did Arthur C Clarke have it wrong? Should we explore Europa? Thanks for watching! Never miss an episode by clicking subscribe. Our Patreon community is the reason these shows happen. We’d like to thank and the rest of the members who support us creating great space and astronomy content for the world to view for free. If you want to get in on the action and join our community, click here. You get advance access to episodes, video extras, and behind the scenes goofballery, and participation in contests and other shenanigans with Jay, myself and the rest of the team. So click right here and head on over to Patreon.

After five decades of spacecraft exploration of the Solar System, the origin of two moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos, remains a perplexing mystery. Are they a) captured asteroids, b) remnants of Mars's formation, or c) reaccreted impact ejecta from Mars? These small bodies lie at the crossroads of a wide range of outstanding issues in solar system research, and elucidating their origin tests our understanding of planet formation and solar system evolution, including the question of how water and organics became available on Earth. Meanwhile, Phobos and Deimos are emerging as key stepping stones in the future human exploration of Mars. Dr. Lee's talk will cover the history of our efforts to understand Phobos and Deimos, and new prospects in their exploration.

What do you know about the Moons of Mars? Nothing? They are super cool (and strange), promise. Moon May! One video about cool moon stuff every Mo(o)nday in May. Next: Plutos five Moons explained. Videos, explaining things. Like evolution, time, space, global energy or our existence in this strange universe. We are a team of designers, journalists and musicians who want to make science look beautiful. Because it is beautiful. Visit us on our Website, Twitter, Facebook, Patreon or Behance to say hi! http://www.patreon.com/Kurzgesagt https://twitter.com/Kurz_Gesagt https://www.facebook.com/Kurzgesagt http://kurzgesagt.org https://www.behance.net/kurzgesagt THANKS A LOT TO OUR PATRONS FOR SUPPORTING US! The Moons of Mars explained -- Phobos & Deimos Help us caption & translate this video! http://www.youtube.com/timedtext_cs_panel?c=UCsXVk37bltHxD1rDPwtNM8Q&tab=2

On 29 December 2013, ESA's Mars Express will make the closest flyby yet of the Red Planet's moon Phobos, skimming past only 45 km above its surface. As the spacecraft passes close to Phobos, it will be pulled slightly off course by the moon's gravity, by a few tens of centimetres. This small deviation will be measured using the spacecraft's radio signals, and then translated into measurements of gravity, mass and density at different locations on the moon. Closest approach occurred at 07:09:00 GMT (08:09:00 CET) on 29 December 2013. This animation shows the view in real time from the surface of Phobos. Credit: ESA

On 29 December 2013, ESA's Mars Express will make the closest flyby yet of the Red Planet's moon Phobos, skimming past only 45 km above its surface. As the spacecraft passes close to Phobos, it will be pulled slightly off course by the moon's gravity, by a few tens of centimetres. This small deviation will be measured using the spacecraft's radio signals, and then translated into measurements of gravity, mass and density at different locations on the moon. Closest approach occurred at 07:09:00 GMT (08:09:00 CET) on 29 December 2013. This animation shows the flyby speeded up 1000 times; it shows the relative positions of Mars, Phobos and Mars Express. Credit: ESA

On 29 December 2013, ESA's Mars Express will make the closest flyby yet of the Red Planet's moon Phobos, skimming past only 45 km above its surface. As the spacecraft passes close to Phobos, it will be pulled slightly off course by the moon's gravity, by a few tens of centimetres. This small deviation will be measured using the spacecraft's radio signals, and then translated into measurements of gravity, mass and density at different locations on the moon. This animation shows the flyby (speeded up) as if you were standing on Phobos, with Mars in the background and Mars Express sweeping out an arc above. Toward the end of the sequence, Mars Express disappears behind Mars and out of sight of Phobos. Credit: ESA

On 29 December 2013, ESA's Mars Express will make the closest flyby yet of the Red Planet's moon Phobos, skimming past only 45 km above its surface. As the spacecraft passes close to Phobos, it will be pulled slightly off course by the moon's gravity, by a few tens of centimetres. This small deviation will be measured using the spacecraft's radio signals, and then translated into measurements of gravity, mass and density at different locations on the moon. This animation shows how the flyby would appear from a vantage point near Mars Express, with Phobos passing by beneath. The relative movement between the spacecraft and moon has been speeded up ten times faster than actual. Credit: ESA

The innermost moon of Mars, Phobos, is seen here in full 360 degree glory. The images were taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on ESA's Mars Express at various times throughout the mission's 10 years. The moon's parallel sets of grooves are perhaps the most striking feature, along with the giant 9 km-wide Stickney impact crater that dominates one face of the 27 x 22 x 18 km moon. The origin of the moon's grooves is a subject of much debate. One idea assumes that the crater chains are associated with impact events on the moon itself. Another idea suggests they result from Phobos moving through streams of debris thrown up from impacts 6000 km away on the surface of Mars, with each 'family' of grooves corresponding to a different impact event. Mars Express has imaged Phobos from a wide range of distances, but will make its closest flyby yet on 29 December 2013, at just 45 km above the moon. Although this is too close to take images, gravity experiments will give insight into the interior structure of Phobos. Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

This video clip shows the larger of the two moons of Mars, Phobos, passing directly in front of the sun, in an eclipse photographed by NASA's Mars rover Curiosity.

Learn more about Mars' moons: http://goo.gl/ycthbW The Mars Science Laboratory used its Mast Camera to photograph the larger moon Phobos occult the smaller Deimos. 41 images taken on Aug. 1st, 2013 are compiled and time-lapsed (real-time was 55 seconds).

This sped-up movie from the Curiosity rover shows Phobos (the larger of Mars' two moons) passing in front of smaller Deimos. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems/Texas A&M Univ.

The journey of Mars Express, from drawing board through launch, to its key science highlights during ten years of operations. With its suite of seven instruments, Mars Express has studied the subsurface of the Red Planet to the upper atmosphere and beyond to the two tiny moons Phobos and Deimos, providing an in depth analysis of the planet's history and returning stunning 3D images.

Named after the Greek gods of fear and dread, Mars's two moons remained undiscovered until the late 19th century. Since the start of the Space Race they've been minor supporting characters in our quest to understand the Red Planet, but an ambitious new mission may be about to move them centre stage. Archive footage appears courtesy of Footagevault. (Part 2 of 4) Playlist link - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL01C420CFB66C544E Transcript link - http://podcast.open.ac.uk/feeds/moons-01/transcript/moons02_01589_15228.pdf Related article Moons: Taking it further https://www.open.edu/openlearn/futurelearn/moons Study a free course on Icy bodies: Europa and elsewhere at the Open University https://www.open.edu/openlearn/science-maths-technology/icy-bodies-europa-and-elsewhere/content-section-0?active-tab=description-tab Study a free course on Moons of our Solar System at the Open University https://www.open.edu/openlearn/science-maths-technology/moons-our-solar-system/content-section-overview?active-tab=description-tab Study Q64 Natural Sciences (Astronomy and Planetary Science) http://www.open.ac.uk/courses/qualifications/q64-ast Explore qualifications in Astronomy with the OU https://www.open.edu/openlearn/science-maths-technology/science/physics-and-astronomy/astronomy/dark-matter-dark-energy-and-the-sound-the-big-bang The Open University is the world’s leading provider of flexible, high-quality online degrees and distance learning, serving students across the globe with highly respected degree qualifications, and the triple-accredited MBA. The OU teaches through its own unique method of distance learning, called ‘supported open learning’ and you do not need any formal qualifications to study with us, just commitment and a desire to find out what you are capable of. Free learning from The Open University http://www.open.edu/openlearn/ For more like this subscribe to the Open University channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXsH4hSV_kEdAOsupMMm4Qw Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ouopenlearn/ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/OUFreeLearning #OpenUniversity #astronomy

The silhouette of the Martian moon Phobos is seen as the moon passes in front of the sun, in imagery captured Nov. 9, 2010, by NASA's Mars rover Opportunity. The rover's panoramic camera took exposures four seconds apart that were combined into this 30-second eclipse movie.

Former astronaut Buzz Aldrin spoke about the future of space exploration and said the public would be interested in a monolith on Phobos, one of the two small moons that revolve around Mars. http://www.c-spanarchives.org/library/vidLink.php?b=1248008020&e=1248008080&n=001

This animation shows the 3D (shape) model of Mars moon Phobos, built thanks to the data collected by Mars Express High Resolution Stereo Camera (53 images obtained by the Super Resolution Channel, or SRC) and NASAs Viking (16 images). The model is dressed with a mosaic of the same images. The SRC coverage is about 70% of the moons surface. The mean resolution is 12 m/pixel. During Mars Express fly-bys of Phobos, the MaRS radio science experiment on Mars Express detected the gravitational influence of the moon on the trajectory of the spacecraft, so allowing the determination of the moons mass with unprecedented accuracy (1.072 1016 kg, or about one billionth the mass of the Earth). The 3D model of the body built thanks to HRSC data, combined with the mass measurement, is key to calculate the mean density of Phobos. In turn, this can tell scientists a lot about the moons composition (how much rock or ice may be present, and how porous the structure may be), helping to close in on Phobos origin. http://www.esa.int/esaMI/Mars_Express/

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