Hope Probe Snaps Surreal Image of Mars and Its Moon Together

A space probe orbiting Mars has captured a stunning image of the Red Planet alongside one of its moons, Deimos. 

The image comes from the Hope probe, a mission from the United Arab Emirates Space Agency to study Mars. The probe, which is about the size of a small SUV, began orbiting the planet in February 2021. But earlier this year, the craft maneuvered itself into a higher orbit so it could take observation of Deimos, Mars’ second moon. 

The new position allowed the Hope probe to capture high-resolution images and infrared scans of Deimos—long thought to be a rogue asteroid that fell into Mars’ orbit. 

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“The observations reveal, for the first time, regions on the far-side of Deimos which have never been compositionally investigated,” the UAE’s space agency said. “The closest flybys saw Hope pass approximately 100km from Deimos.”

The agency also shared its findings(Opens in a new window) on Monday during the European Geosciences Union General Assembly in Vienna. Interestingly, the new observations from Hope have uncovered evidence challenging the theory that Deimos is a captured asteroid. 

The scans from the probe found Deimos’s composition doesn’t match D-type(Opens in a new window) asteroids in the asteroid belt. Instead, the moon shares traits to a “basaltic Mars,” or to the cooled lava areas that helped form the planet. This suggests Deimos may have come from Mars itself at some point, possibly from a major impact on the surface. 

The UAE’s space agency plans to continue more close flybys of Deimos to better understand its possible origins. In addition, the Hope probe will continue observations of Mars’ atmosphere, along with the planet’s other moon, Phobos. The craft is currently completing orbits around Mars every 55 hours.