Canadian teams to plan missions to Mars...and its moon

[JonClarke]

Just as some orbital flybys allow spacecraft to gain energy, others allow them to lose it. The same with asteroids. Very close flybys may also disperse energy by tidal stresses.<br /><br />Of course this is a very unlikely event, requring matching orbits and multiple encounters. But if there is a lot of stuff flying round, as is likely in the early history of the solar system, it can happen.<br /><br />Jon <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em>Whether we become a multi-planet species with unlimited horizons, or are forever confined to Earth will be decided in the twenty-first century amid the vast plains, rugged canyons and lofty mountains of Mars</em>  Arthur Clarke</p> </div>

 

[3488]

I would have thought with the huge numbers of these objects present, during this time,<br />capture of asteroids would be very likely.<br /><br />I still think Phobos & Deimos both originated within the Asteroid Belt.<br /><br />Andrew Brown. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080">"I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before".</font> <em><strong><font color="#000000">Linda Morabito </font></strong><font color="#800000">on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.</font></em></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://www.launchphotography.com/</font><br /><br /><font size="1" color="#000080">http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearth</font></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://web.me.com/meridianijournal</font></p> </div>

 

[jaxtraw]

Hi Andrew, thanks for answering! Is there any way to directly ascertain how long they've been orbiting Mars for?

 

[3488]

You know what? I do not know right now. Love to<br />though.<br /><br />My thoughts would be to see whether or not as Jon Clarke suggested in this post, <br /> are Phobos & Deimos really type C asteroids, but are silicate<br />types instead, heavily space weathered?<br /><br />If so, clues to when they were captured may be found within.<br /><br />The surface regolith may hold information regarding solar intensity, when <br />Phobos came closer to the Sun.<br /><br />Perhaps something like this Canadian mission or PhobosGrunt, could land,<br />drill through the surface to the bedrock & analyze that.<br /><br />That could provide evidence of true type & perhaps under what environment it formed in.<br /><br />Then the space weathered exposed surface would be analyzed also, perhaps giving clues to more <br />recent events. <br /><br />Maybe revealing clues to when Phobos was captured by Mars.<br /> <br />Idealy another similar craft needs to repeat the same on Deimos.<br /><br />IMO Phobos & Deimos are not identical twins. Phobos has a large number of larger craters in proportion<br />to its size than Deimos.<br /><br />Both have boulders on the surface & both have a layer of Regolith.<br /><br />Also Phobos at higher resolutions looks rougher than Deimos.<br /><br />They are very similar to each other, but not twins.<br /><br />Andrew Brown. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080">"I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before".</font> <em><strong><font color="#000000">Linda Morabito </font></strong><font color="#800000">on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.</font></em></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://www.launchphotography.com/</font><br /><br /><font size="1" color="#000080">http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearth</font></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://web.me.com/meridianijournal</font></p> </div>