Mars Moon Phobos Likely Forged by Catastrophic Blast

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Mars Moon Phobos Likely Forged by Catastrophic Blast
The ESA spacecraft Mars Express took this image of Phobos on March 7, 2010. This image has been enhanced for seeing features in the less-illuminated part of the moon. (Image credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum))

One of the two moons

The moon, Phobos,

Scientists have long

The new study found

Phobos is one of two

What makes a

Researchers used

By analyzing the

The team also found

Independent

The research was

Too spongy for an

During the study,

The first sign came

"This number is

Other evidence

If it were denser,

In addition, the

Yet sponginess is

Finally, the motion

More missions,

Despite the evidence

The Russian

Similar studies of

  • Mars in 3-D: Photos From Mars Express
  • Video:

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Space.com Staff
Space.com Staff
News and editorial team

Space.com is the premier source of space exploration, innovation and astronomy news, chronicling (and celebrating) humanity's ongoing expansion across the final frontier. Originally founded in 1999, Space.com is, and always has been, the passion of writers and editors who are space fans and also trained journalists. Our current news team consists of Editor-in-Chief Tariq Malik; Editor Hanneke Weitering, Senior Space Writer Mike Wall; Senior Writer Meghan Bartels; Senior Writer Chelsea Gohd, Senior Writer Tereza Pultarova and Staff Writer Alexander Cox, focusing on e-commerce. Senior Producer Steve Spaleta oversees our space videos, with Diana Whitcroft as our Social Media Editor.