Martian Moon Gets Amazing Close-Up

Posted by Chris Jensen | Apr. 10, 2008 06:36AM PST | 630 views | 1 comment

FILED UNDER: News. Science.

The HiRISE camera hitching a ride aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has taken several stunning photographs of the Martian moon Phobos. At only 22 km in diameter, Phobos is a dinky object, which is good news for Mars, as Phobos will eventually slam into the planet. How Phobos, and its smaller brother Deimos, came into existence remains unclear. Each were either asteroids in their former life that were eventually captured by the gravity of Mars, or both moons formed from material that was shed from Mars during an ancient and mammoth impact.

The most prominent feature on Phobos is the Stickney crater, which has a diameter of 9 km. If whatever clobbered Phobos to form that crater had been just a hair larger, it would have shattered the moon into a zillion pieces.

More photos on the flip-side.

Read More (Source: University of Arizona)

Tags nasa, mro, hirise, mars, deimos, phobos, space

NASA Photographs Active Landslide

Posted by Chris Jensen | Mar. 04, 2008 07:11AM PST | 136 views | 1 comment

FILED UNDER: News. Science.

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter happened to be looking at the right place at the right time on February 19th, when its HiRISE camera accidentally spotted a Martian landslide in action.  Amazing nature photography ensued.

"It really surprised me," says planetary scientist Ingrid Daubar Spitale of the University of Arizona who first noticed the avalanches in photos taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on Feb. 19th. "It's great to see something so dynamic on Mars. A lot of what we see there hasn't changed for millions of years."

Photos on page 2.

Read More (Source: Avalanches on Mars - NASA)

Tags hirise, mro, orbiter, avalanche, space, mars