US space agency, NASA’s social media post caught the attention of space enthusiasts with the picture of a ‘space potato’.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration or NASA shares astonishing images from our universe. From fascinating image of outer space to mesmerising educational videos, you just cannot get over NASA’s vast information hub. However, one image got everyone's attention recently. It's the image of largest own satellite of Mars, Phobos. In this article, we will discuss about this exciting image in detail.
Which structure comes into your mind when you hear the term ‘Potato’? It's unevenly round structure with rough surfaces, right? That's what space lovers found in the new image of Phobos.
More about Phobos: While sharing the picture, NASA wrote inthe caption: “Phobos is the larger of Mars' two moons—but it's still only about 17 x 14 x 11 miles (27 by 22 by 18 kilometres) in diameter.”
Meanwhile, the red planet has two moons: Phobos and Demios. Those two names are mentioned in ancient Greek mythology.
Reasons Behind this Shape: “Because Phobos is so small, its gravity isn't strong enough to pull it into a sphere (like Earth's Moon), giving it its lumpy shape. Phobos is also on a collision course with Mars—though it'll take a while to get there. It's nearing the Red Planet at a rate of six feet (1.8 meters) every hundred years. At that rate, the moon will either crash into Mars in 50 million years or break up into a ring,” NASA mentioned on the post.
Capturing the Image: NASA further mentioned: “This image was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on our Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which has been studying Mars since 2006.”
Reaction from the Viewers: The reach of the post is increasing frequently. The post has gathered lakhs of likes and comments in few days. An individual wrote, “Finally, we find a potato in space.” Another person added: “Very, very interesting.” "Can we turn it into space fries?” sarcastically commented another.
The farthest location in space humans have reached is the Moon. With rising global warming and climate change, scientists are looking for alternate habitable options. The red planet, Mars is one of the primary interests of scientists for the same.
Couple of weeks ago, NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has captured a mysterious pit or hole situated on the side of the Arsia Mons volcano, which is now extinct. Usually, the entire solar system gets a lot of radiations which are harmful to human body. These holes can provide the suitable base camp for astronauts to prevent themselves from these radiations.
Moreover, NASA is developing numerous technologies to send astronauts to the Red Planet by 2030. NASA is also preparing complete life support systems to regenerate consumables including food, air, and water to survive on Mars.
Meanwhile, the first traveler to the Mars would be a female, as mentioned by science portals. This is because women need significantly fewer resources for a long-duration stay in space than men.
Will Humans be able to set up homes to stay on the Mars? Only time will tell!
