UAE probe offers unprecedented view of Mars moon

UAE probe offers unprecedented view of Mars moon

It came within 110 kilometers (68 miles) from Deimos, a rocky object the shape of a bean just 12 kilometers wide, according to the Emirates Mars Mission (EMM). The probe — named “Al-Amal”, Arabic for “Hope” — sent back to Earth the most precise images and observations of the moon ever captured, using instruments that measure the infrared and ultraviolet wavelengths.

It also observed for the first time the far side of the moon, revealing regions whose compositions have never been studied, the mission said. The probe could also prompt new debate over how exactly the strange moons ended up in the Martian orbit. “We are unsure of the origins of both Phobos and Deimos,” the EMM’s science lead Hessa Al Matroushi said in a statement.

One leading theory is that the two moons were once asteroids passing by when they were unexpectedly captured into the orbit of Mars. But Al Matroushi said that “our close observations of Deimos so far point to a planetary origin”. Christopher Edwards, a scientist in charge of one of the probe’s instruments, said that “both of these bodies have infrared properties more akin to a basaltic Mars” than an asteroid. That could mean the rocky bodies