ISRO Shares Image of Mars’s Biggest Moon ‘Phobos’ | Mangalyaan

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Friday shared a picture of Phobos, the closest and largest moon of Mars. The picture, as seen above, is a composite of 6 distinct frames. The photographs have been snapped July 1st by the Mars Colour Camera (MCC) onboard the Mars Orbiter Mission, in other words, referred to as ‘Mangalyaan’. The Mars Orbiter was about 7200 km from Mars and 4200 km from Phobos when the photographs have been taken.

Phobos is essentially believed to be made up of carbonaceous chondrites. According to ISRO, “The violent phase that Phobos has encountered is seen in the large section gouged out from a past collision (Stickney crater) and bouncing ejecta”. The picture additionally exhibits Stickney, the biggest crater on Phobos. Some of the other craters seen within the picture embody Shklovsky, Roche & Grildrig.

ISRO launched the Mangalyaan mission on November 5, 2013, aboard PSLV-C25. The automobile entered the Martian orbit on September 24, 2014, in its first try. That created historical past of kinds, because it made India the primary nation on the earth to efficiently attain Mars on its first try.

The major goal of the mission is to develop the applied sciences required for designing, planning, administration, and operations of an interplanetary mission. The secondary goal is to discover Mars’ floor options, morphology, mineralogy, and Martian environment utilizing indigenous scientific devices.

It took Mars Orbiter 323 days to reach its destination. Once it was efficiently inserted into orbit, it was welcomed by NASA’s Curiosity Rover. The feat was additionally lauded by Elon Musk and famous astrophysicist, Alan Duffy. The Mission’s life was anticipated to be six months however continues to be going sturdy, even after nearly six years.

Featured Image Courtesy: ISRO