Approaching Mars Express Phobos

Unmanned vehicle for ESA, Mars Express will study Phobos within a very close distance. The origin of the moon orbiting the red planet since long been a subject of debate among scientists.

Unmanned vehicle for the European Agency Antarctic , Mars Express is scheduled to fly across the largest moon orbiting the red planet , Phobos . The rides will be approached at an altitude of 45 kilometers from the surface . " In the distance , we were almost in contact with the spacecraft Phobos ,
" said Michel Denis , Mars Express Operations Manager .

Mars Express will be close to Phobos , Sunday ( 29/12 ) at high speed so it can not take a picture instantly . Instead the spacecraft will measure the gravity of Phobos and thus reveal the internal structure of the object langut .
Phobo is the only moon in the solar system that orbits its parent planet in very close distance . Sangking nearby , Phobos only takes about seven hours to orbit its parent planet .
Simple but effective method
The giant stone closer to Mars as much as 1.8 meters every 100 years . This means that the orbit of Phobos would disappear within 50 million years , and the moon will crash into the parent planet . Mars will then be surrounded by a ring of dust and rock like gas planets in general in our solar system .

Method of measuring the gravitational field of Phobos seem simple but effective . When Mars Express entered orbit Phobo , celestial bodies that gravity will slowly shift towards the vehicle and change the speed to fly a few centimeters per second .
Small changes that will then be sent in the form of numbers to the space control center of the earth . Based on these data scientists can measure the mass and density of Phobos . Previous Mars Express never came within 67 kilometers of Phobos , . March 2010 . The findings reinforce the assumption that rides scientists , that Phobos is more like the interior structure of the asteroid with almost one-third empty .
Revealing the secrets of Phobos
Phobos is believed to keep secret the formation of other celestial bodies orbiting Mars , Deimos . The moon circling the red planet in the distance three times farther than Phobos . " With this maneuver , we could step forward to explain the origin of this mysterious moon , " said Olivier Witasse , one of the scientists who work for the ESA Mars Express .
The origin of the two moons around Mars is still a matter of debate among scientists . Most believe , Phobos and Deimos are formed from the remnants of cosmic dust that is created in a collision between Mars with other celestial bodies .
While the theory of the second month of the second call is trapped asteroids and Mars gravity field since it was orbiting the red planet . " We did some routine maneuvers every few months to correct the trajectory Express . Now we are ready to make very accurate measurements on Phobos , " added Olivier .