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Can You Spot the Tiny Alien Moon Hovering Above NASA's Perseverance Rover?

Since it landed on Mars on February 18th, NASA's Perseverance rover has blessed us with dozens of images taken of the red dusty alien soil. While most of the time, the rover is busy hunting for rocks that may hold traces of ancient microbial life, sometimes, it also looks up in the sky and captures spectacular views.
NASA Perseverance spots tiny Martian moon Deimos 6 photos
Photo: NASA via Twitter
NASA Perseverance rover spots tiny Martian moon DeimosMartian moon Deimos irregular shapeMartian moon Deimos surfaceMartian moon Deimos surfacePerseverance on its way to explore "Citadelle" region on Mars
So far, the rover has captured over 75,000 photos, showing incredible views of mystery rocks, cliffs, and its little helicopter buddy Ingenuity in flight. As Perseverance is paving the way for future human missions on Mars, the rover showcases technologies that could be employed to aid astronauts. These include looking up sometimes to study the weather, dust, and other potential environmental factors that could affect future astronauts living and working on the Red Planet.

Recently, as the rover was taking a short time lapse movie to watch for clouds, it caught something else with its onboard camera: one of the two Martian moons hovering in the sky. Named after the god of fear and terror in Greek mythology, Deimos is truly a tiny moon compared to our planet's natural satellite, measuring only 2.3 km (1.4 miles) in diameter.

It is crisscrossed by dozens of impact craters, yet the partial filling of some of the craters gives it a smooth appearance. Because that moon's surface lacks the gravitational pull to hold the ejecta, dust and debris will leave the moon after a collision. However, Mars' gravitational pull will keep a ring of material around the planet in roughly the same orbit as Deimos. That's how the debris gets redeposited as a dusty layer on the moon's surface as it revolves around the Red Planet.

Perseverance will continue its mission on Mars. The rover recently attempted to gather up samples by drilling up a hole in the soil. Because the initial attempt failed, the rover is gearing up for its second try, this time in another location called Citadelle.

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About the author: Florina Spînu
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Florina taught herself how to drive in a Daewoo Tico (a rebadged Suzuki Alto kei car) but her first "real car" was a VW Golf. When she’s not writing about cars, drones or aircraft, Florina likes to read anything related to space exploration and take pictures in the middle of nature.
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