A satellite from the United Arab Emirates revealed that Mars' moon Deimos is made of the same material as the Red Planet itself, hinting at an ancient collision.
The United Arab Emirates' Martian orbiter Hope just provided a striking new view of Deimos, one of Mars' two small moons. According to findings presented at the European Geosciences Union meeting this week, the observations from a flyby on March 10 indicate that Deimos is made of the same materials as Mars itself — suggesting the moon formed at the same time as Mars, and isn’t a captured asteroid, as some theories have proposed.
Humanity has been exploring Mars for decades, but our probes mostly stayed close to the Red Planet's surface. Deimos is tidally locked with Mars, meaning the same side always faces the planet, so probes near Mars see only one side of the small moon, too — that is, until Hope arrived on the scene. Also known as the Emirates Mars Mission , Hope launched in mid-2020 and arrived at Mars in early 2021. EMM is the first interplanetary spacecraft from an Arab nation, and it mainly investigated changes in the Martian atmosphere. Once the probe completed that primary mission, the EMM team decided to use the remaining extra propellant to boost the spacecraft into a higher orbit above Deimos, allowing the scientists to image the far side of the Martian moon in detail for the first time.
"If there were carbon or organics, we would see spikes in specific wavelengths," Al Matroushi added. This is surprising, as scientists often considered Deimos a captured asteroid. Instead, it seems like a chunk of Mars itself, perhaps broken off in a long-ago collision. Earth's moon is thought to have formed from a similar collision, billions of years ago — perhaps giving our planet one more thing in common with its rocky red neighbor.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
UAE spacecraft takes close-up photos of Mars' little moon DeimosThe United Arab Emirates' Amal spacecraft flew within 62 miles of Mars' little moon last month and sent back the most detailed photos yet.
Read more »
Hello Deimos: Spacecraft Takes Close-Up Photos of Mars' Little MoonThe United Arab Emirates' Amal spacecraft flew within 62 miles of Deimos last month and the close-up shots were released Monday.
Read more »
Mars’ Hidden Depths: NASA’s InSight Lander Unmasks the Red Planet’s Liquid CoreNew NASA InSight research reveals that Mars has a liquid core rich in sulfur and oxygen, leading to new clues about how terrestrial planets form, evolve and potentially sustain life. NASA's InSight lander has discovered that Mars has a completely liquid core, rich in sulfur and oxygen. This findi
Read more »
This is our 1st detailed look at Mars' most mysterious moon Deimos (photos)The debate over this moon's origin story is not over yet.
Read more »
Pics: UAE's Hope makes closest flyby to Mars' moonlet Deimos since Viking mission in 1977Hope also made the first observations in the extreme and far ultraviolet, and the first well-resolved hyperspectral data of Deimos in the thermal infrared.
Read more »
You’ve never seen Mars’ moon Deimos like this beforeMars has been a hotbed for space exploration over the past several decades. However, just recently we got our closest look at the Martian moons …
Read more »