Teachers

December 2004: Issue 5

A Close-Up Look at Mars' Largest Moon

Here's the Scoop!

The European Space Agency's (ESA) Mars Express spacecraft has taken the highest-resolution pictures to date of the Martian moon Phobos. Not only has the Mars Express learned more about Phobos' surface features such as its craters and regolith (powdery material covering its surface), but the ten images have given the ESA information about Phobos' rotational and orbital properties, as well. Phobos, as well as Deimos (Mars' only two moons, whose names are Greek for Fear and Panic, respectively), is thought to be an asteroid captured from the nearby asteroid belt or from further out in the Solar System by Mars' gravitational pull as they wandered by the planet at some point in the past.

Learning about the moon's orbital properties is important because Phobos is actually spiraling in toward Mars and may soon be torn apart by its gravity, forming a short-lived ring around the planet. By studying Phobos, astronomers hope to learn more about the formation of rings around planets, as well as interaction between the planets and smaller objects wandering in from the asteroid belt or from further out in the Solar System.

Use it in the Classroom!

Family & Home: Observing the Moon (648 KB)

Grades K - 12

In the activity Observing the Moon, students are encouraged to keep a Moon Journal with their families and record observations of the Moon on a daily basis. They ask the question, "What information can we learn from observing the Moon?" and realize that by simply turning their eyes skyward they can learn almost as much as by looking in a book. Show students the pictures of Phobos taken by the Mars Express spacecraft. Have them use the information they learned from Observing the Moon and transfer their knowledge to a new situation. Challenge students to find out what they can learn about Phobos by simply observing it.

This lesson is from Are There Other Neighborhoods Like Our Own: Searching for Abodes of Life in the Universe, an Education Module for Challenger Center’s Journey through the Universe program. For more information about Journey through the Universe, click here.

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Lunar Craters (68 KB)

Grades 5 - 8

In the activity Lunar Craters, students simulate crater impacts by dropping pebbles or marbles into a pan of flour and cocoa. Students identify the characteristics of lunar craters and compare them to the picture of a lunar crater in order to interpret the physical characteristics. Have students also compare their model craters to the pictures of Phobos. Have them examine how the craters of our Moon and Mars' moon are similar or different, and discuss why that may be the case.

This activity is from the Challenger Learning Center Return to the Moon® Activity Book. For more information about Challenger Learning Centers, click here.

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Connection to a CLC Mission Scenario

Grades 5 - 8

In the Challenger Center scenario Mission to Mars®, students launch a probe to either or both of Mars' moons, Deimos and Phobos. Before flying the mission, discuss with students the information that scientists have learned from the new pictures of Phobos and discuss what kind of information they can further learn by launching a probe to the moon.

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Learn More About It!

To see the new pictures of Phobos, and to learn more about the science behind them, visit –
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap041119.html
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0411/12phobos/

To learn more about Mars' two moons, visit –
http://www.solarviews.com/eng/phobos.htm
http://www.nineplanets.org/phobos.html
http://www.nineplanets.org/deimos.html

To learn more about the ESA's Mars Express Spacecraft, visit – http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Mars_Express/