The Phobos monolith is a large rock on the surface of Mars's moon Phobos. It is a boulder about 85 m (279 ft) across. A monolith is a geological feature consisting of a single massive piece of rock. Monoliths also occur naturally on Earth, but it has been suggested that the Phobos monolith may be a piece of impact ejecta. The monolith is a bright object near Stickney crater, described as a "building sized" boulder, which casts a prominent shadow. It was discovered by Efrain Palermo, who did extensive surveys of Martian probe imagery, and later confirmed by Lan Fleming, an imaging sub-contractor at NASA Johnson Space Center. Lan Fleming considered the possibility that the Phobos monolith may be artificial and not a geological feature or rock.
The general vicinity of the monolith is a proposed landing site by Optech and the Mars Institute, for an unmanned mission to Phobos known as PRIME (Phobos Reconnaissance and International Mars Exploration). The PRIME mission would be composed of an orbiter and lander, and each would carry four instruments designed to study various aspects of Phobos' geology. At present, PRIME has not been funded and does not have a projected launch date. Former astronaut Buzz Aldrin has spoken about the Phobos monolith and his support for a mission to Phobos.
The object appears in Mars Global Surveyor images SPS252603 and SPS255103, dated 1998. The object is unrelated to another monolith located on the surface of Mars, which NASA noted as an example of a common surface feature in that region.
Video Phobos monolith
See also
- Caves of Mars Project
- Cydonia (region of Mars)
- Libya Montes
- Mars Global Surveyor
- Mars monolith
Maps Phobos monolith
References
External links
- USGS Mars Global Surveyor MOC Image 55103 - Browse Page Monolith Zoom
- Analysis in year 2000 by Lan Fleming of SPS252603 and SPS255103
- Phobos in general
- Phobos Profile by NASA's Solar System Exploration
- HiRISE images of Phobos
- Spacecraft images of Phobos from nineplanets
- USGS Phobos nomenclature
- Asaph Hall and the Moons of Mars
- Flight around Phobos (movie)
- Animation of Phobos
- Mars Pareidolia
- Palermo's Phobos Anomalies
Source of article : Wikipedia
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