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Photos Stickney Crater
MRO also caught landslides along the walls of Stickney and other craters, including some previously undetected formations on the dark side of the moon that were illuminated by light reflected off Mars. Like Earth's moon, Phobos and its sister, Deimos, are tidally locked to their parent body, leaving half of each moon shrouded in darkness. Though other spacecraft have flown closer to Phobos, the MRO images are the highest quality ever obtained, Bridges said. Scientists suspect Phobos harbors water ice and carbon-rich materials that may be of use for future Mars settlements. Phobos was about 4,200 miles away when MRO snapped the pictures on March 23. At that distance, the camera was able to resolve features as small as about 50 feet in diameter. The moon itself is only 13.5 miles in diameter. Scientists suspect it may be an asteroid that was plucked from orbit by Mars' gravity. Related Links: Irene Klotz's blog: Free Space |
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