Mars Picture of the Day: Martian Moon, Phobos
Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-362, 16 May 2003
![]() NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
Mars has two satellites, Phobos and Deimos. In August and September, 1998,
the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) had four opportunities
for close fly-bys of the inner moon, Phobos. This spectacular view, taken
from the MOC archives of over 123,000 images, shows the large
crater, Stickney, toward the upper right. Grooves, or troughs,
radiate outward from Stickney and are known from Viking and Mariner 9
images to be prevalent all over the surface of Phobos.
Sunlight illuminates the scene from the
upper right. Another view of Phobos from 1998 can be seen in:
MOC2-66,
11 September 1998, “Phobos.”
Malin Space Science Systems and the California Institute of Technology
built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission.
MSSS operates the camera from its facilities in San Diego, California.
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Mars Surveyor Operations Project
operates the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial
partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena,
California and Denver, Colorado.