back to article Mars Express skims past Phobos

The European Space Agency's Mars Express yesterday skimmed past Martian moon Phobos at a distance of just 67km - the closest any manmade object has ever approached the "enigmatic" body. Mars Express image of Phobos. Pic: ESA The flyby was designed to capture the "most exquisite data yet about the gravitational field of Phobos …

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  1. Richard Wharram
    Alien

    Cacodemons ?

    Imps ?

    I smell a conspiracy !

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Not again:

    Hang on, that's not a moon....

    1. Anonymous John
      Alien

      Agreed.

      Definitely a skull. Cavity on the left when the nose was. Jaw underneath, and more cavities for various other sense organs.

      Where's Amanfrommars when you need him?

  3. Marcus Aurelius
    Boffin

    I wanna know

    How does a rock be "enigmatic"?

    1. Hollerith 1

      um...

      Do you work in IT? I sit beside many.

    2. Michael H.F. Wilkinson Silver badge
      Boffin

      Because it's very different from Deimos

      Most moons are solid, this one is not. People used to think this tiny moon was a captured asteroid, they were apparently wrong.

      Not perhaps the greatest excitement, but still interesting

    3. I. Aproveofitspendingonspecificprojects 1
      Headmaster

      That's a mystery.

      But one thing we do know for sure is that when Mars has a 8.6M marsquake the satellite will be able to breathe safely in its orbit.

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      'Doom laden' more like

      Phobos is in a degrading orbit and very soon* it is going to pile into Mars with the force of a million Michael Bay movies.

      * Very soon here is in geological terms. About 11 million years give or take a rise and fall of civilisation.

  4. Blofeld's Cat
    Alien

    25-30 per cent voids

    That's plenty of space for crew quarters, an engine room and a laser death cannon battery then.

    Is it orbiting or just parked?

  5. richard 69
    Thumb Up

    yep...

    it's definitely a giant piece of rock.....next research project please...

  6. Paul Crawford Silver badge
    Linux

    Clangers?

    Looks awfully like the Clanger's home 'planet', small, weak gravity and holes inside for the nut & bolt mine and the soup dragon's lair. They seem to have disguised the bin-lid covers well though...

    Tux, because its the closest icon to a clanger.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Kids these days

    10 comments so far and no-one has mentioned leather goddesses yet? Shame on you!

    1. Neoc
      Unhappy

      Damn!

      Beaten to the punch!

  8. hplasm
    Boffin

    The Moon

    Is made of cheese. 30% of Phobos is holes; Phobos is made of cheese + holes, ie Swiss cheese.

  9. jj 5

    Eon

    And no mention of Thistledown...

  10. John Smith 19 Gold badge
    Joke

    Ideal Villans Lair

    Although commuting back to Earth might be a bit time consuming.

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Joke

    Re: The Moon

    100% of Phobos is Phobos. Any holes are not stuff and are therefore not Phobos.

    And @Marcus Aurelius, how can a rock *not* be enigmatic?

  12. Daniel B.
    Joke

    But the real question is....

    Have they found the Gate yet? Remind the UAC *not* to play with that interdimensional teleporter!

  13. John Smith 19 Gold badge
    Joke

    @Daniel B.

    "Have they found the Gate yet?"

    Yes they have. But the start up noise from the LHC is jamming it.

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