The United Arab Emirates’ Mars probe, which has been orbiting the Red Planet for two years, has observed the small satellite Deimos with unprecedented precision, shedding new light on the origin of this mysterious satellite of Mars, reports AFP.
The Al Amal probe, the first Arab interplanetary mission, was able to fly within 110 km of Deimos, an irregular bean-shaped rocky body only 12 km long that, along with the larger moon Phobos, is one of two moons of Mars.
This is the first time since the Viking Mars mission in 1977 that a spacecraft has flown so close to this rare natural moon, Emirates Mars Mission (EMM) officials announced Monday at the European Earth Sciences Union meeting in Vienna.
During flybys of Deimos that began in January, Hope was able to make observations with unprecedented precision, thanks in part to the EXI camera, which provides high-resolution color images at different wavelengths.
The data revealed the “dark side” of the small moon, which orbits about 23,000 km from Mars and whose composition has never been studied.
“We are uncertain about the origins of Phobos and Deimos,” Hess Al Matrushi, principal investigator of the EMM mission, said in a statement.
According to her, “the old theory is that they are asteroids” from the asteroid belt that were “captured” in the Red Planet’s orbit.
A planetary origin rather than an asteroid?
But careful observations by the Hope probe point to a planetary origin for this moon.
Like its companion Phobos, the celestial body has “infrared properties closer to basaltic rocks on Mars than to those of the meteorite that fell near Lake Tagish in Canada”, “often used by analogy to study Phobos and Deimos”, according to the EMIRS researcher . Christopher Edwards.
Hope will continue to fly by Deimos through 2023 to collect more data, the United Arab Emirates space agency said, as it decided to extend the Mars mission for another year.
In February 2021, the United Arab Emirates launched the Hope probe into Mars orbit, becoming the first Arab country to do so.
The wealthy Gulf nation also plans to send an unmanned rover to the moon by 2024.
Source: Hot News
Ben is a respected technology journalist and author, known for his in-depth coverage of the latest developments and trends in the field. He works as a writer at 247 news reel, where he is a leading voice in the industry, known for his ability to explain complex technical concepts in an accessible way. He is a go-to source for those looking to stay informed about the latest developments in the world of technology.