NASA Says One of Mars’ Moons Is Going to Crash Into Its Surface

Have you ever seen a Moon crash and burn on the Martian surface to create a solar eclipse? You have now.

NASA's Perseverance rover captured and posted a video this week that shows Phobos, one of two Martian satellites that NASA describes as being distinctly potato-shaped, as it crossed the Sun's surface. The space agency said in a press release that the clip will help scientists better understand the moon's gravity and how it pulls on the Martian surface.

NASA said in the statement that scientists already know that Phobos is doomed. Over the last two decades, eclipse observations from the surface of Mars have allowed scientists to refine their understanding of Phobos.

Tick Tock

NASA's plans to land humans on the Martian surface are still on the table, despite the good news that inevitable demise shouldn't happen anytime soon. The presser said that Perseverance is studying the subject of Astrobiology and searching for signs of life on the Red Planet as it paves the way for human missions to touch down.

Artemis, NASA's mission that will eventually land the first woman and person of color on the Moon, should be supported by all of this work. The goal is to use the lessons learned from returning to the moon to catapult over to Mars.

It would be cool to keep the Perseverance rover as a memorial to our accomplishments if we make it there. Maybe it could witness the demise of Phobos after this week's eclipse.

The first US lunar landers have been created since the Apollo missions.