Mars Moon Phobos Picture Captured by MOM

The probe was approximately 4,200 km from Phobos and 7,200 km from the red planet when it snapped the shot. This Mars Moon’s image is a result of 6 frames capture that was later color-corrected. Scientists believe that the moon Phobos is composed of Carbonaceous Chondrites.

While explaining about the Mars moon image, “The violent phase that Phobos has encountered is seen in the large section gouged out from a past collision (Stickney Crater) and bouncing ejecta. Stickney, the largest crater on Phobos along with the other craters (Shklovsky, Roche, and Grildrig) are also seen in this image,” ISRO said in a report.

Image credit: Twitter/ISRO

This mission – MOM was first launched by the Indian Space Research Organization on the 5th of November, 2013 on Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) from Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.

It took nine long months of the voyage before reaching the Mars Orbit on September 24th, 2014 making India the first country to reach the Red Planet in its maiden attempt.

It is also the lowest-budget Mars Mission ever attempted by any country as it cost just $73 million (₹450 crores).

The orbiter was designed to study the Martian atmosphere and mineralogy. It has 5 scientific instruments onboard. Mars Exospheric Composition Analyser (MENCA), Lyman Alpha Photometer (LAP), Mars Color Camera (MCC), Methane Sensor for Mars (MSM), and Thermal Infrared Imaging Spectrometer.

The ISRO scientists exclaimed that the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) was meant to survive for just six months but the orbiter has lasted for many years and is still functional which is a very good thing to study the Red Planet.

This long lifespan has paved the way to Study and Capture the image of Mars moon too.

“MOM was scheduled to last only for 6 months as per ISRO’s plan but it is still functioning nearly 7 years after its launch. Though some systems are not working, the orbiter is continuously beaming images of the Red Planet. It’s a great achievement,” ISRO chairman K. Sivan said to TOI.

ISRO is preparing for its Mars Orbiter Mission-2.