Historic First: Earth and Its Moon Captured from Another Planet in Our Solar System

Martian exploration is continuing. On the surface of the Red Planet, several NASA rovers are on a mission to uncover the secrets and learn more about the history of Mars. But that's not all, to report and give us a taste of the landscapes that future astronauts who will explore it directly will have to face, these vehicles specially designed to move on Mars are equipped with cameras.

Curiosity captures Earth and Phobos from Mars

In a statement, the American space agency welcomed the capture of Curiosity. Indeed, by proudly unveiling the image of its rover, NASA explained that it was “the first time a photograph of the two celestial bodies had been taken from the surface of Mars”.

Photography itself is not a one shot. Indeed, it took a long time to get it. The American space agency specifies that the image revealed is a composite.

In other words, it was necessary to make a composition with five images taken during a short exposure to which were added 12 images captured during longer exposures. It is the same principle that is used to reveal the deep Universe when it is captured by the James Webb or Hubble space telescopes.

A historical photo

In the details of the image, we are told where the photograph was taken. If the simple answer is: Mars, of course, the more precise answer indicates that it was taken “above Texoli, a hill on the lower part of Mount Sharp, a 5-kilometer-high mountain that Curiosity has been climbing since 2014.”

While the American space agency has thought well of allowing us to see a focus on the Earth and Phobos, it is possible to see the two celestial bodies without the latter. Indeed, in the photo below, the Earth and Phobos are located in the upper/right part of the image.

Of course, from Mars, Phobos appears much larger than Earth, which is just a small bright point like a star in the sky.

Photo credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Phobos, one of the two moons of the Red Planet

While Earth has only one moon: the Moon, Mars has two: Deimos and Phobos. But unlike our natural satellite, Mars' two are much smaller.

Indeed, bright at night and visible during the day, the Moon has a diameter of 3,175 kilometers. Compared to Phobos and Deimos, it is respectively 124 times and 199 times larger. It is also much further from Earth than Phobos is from Mars. Phobos orbits only 6,000 kilometers from Mars, while the Moon orbits 384,400 kilometers from Earth.

Due to this close proximity and according to NASA, Phobos is “on a collision course” with the Red Planet.

We will never witness this since the American space agency has estimated that Phobos will crash into Mars in 50 million years. Very close to the planet, it cannot be seen from anywhere as is the case with the Moon. Indeed, during its three daily orbits of Mars, Phobos can disappear depending on where we are.

Well, for now, no one is there. But it won't be long since according to Elon Musk's forecast schedule, humanity should set foot on Mars in 2028 if the unmanned test mission of 2026 is a success. We would be on the verge of becoming a multi-planetary species.

Source : Space / NASA