NASA Shares Latest Picture Of Mars Moon 'Phobos', Internet Calls it 'Space Potato'

The National Aeronautical Space Administration (NASA) has been at the forefront of sharing with us some fascinating images and videos of Earth and space. Recently, NASA shared a stunning picture of the ‘Phobos’, one of the two moons of Mars. One of the highlights of the rare picture is that the moon appears to be like a potato.

The moon is being referred to as ‘Space Potato’ due to its unique shape and texture. In the caption, NASA wrote, “Phobos is the larger of Mars’ two moons, but it’s still only about 17 x 14 x 11 miles (27 by 22 by 18 kilometres) in diameter. Because Phobos is so small, its gravity isn’t strong enough to pull it into a sphere (like Earth’s Moon), giving it its lumpy shape.”

Sharing the picture of the moon, the space organisation highlighted the potential collision between the planet and Phobos. They revealed that Phobos has been travelling towards Mars at a rate of six feet (1.8 metres) every hundred years. This can result in a possible collision in 50 million years and can break the planet into a ring.

The space agency said that the image was taken by the HiRISE camera aboard its Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft. After sharing the picture, it instantly went viral on social media, with people sharing their views in the comment section. One of the users wrote, “Finally, we found a potato in space.” Another user commented, “Can we please turn it into space fries?” So far, the picture of Phobos has garnered more than 4 lakh likes on Instagram.

Talking about Phobos, NASA has revealed that it doesn’t have its atmosphere and that it orbits around Mars three times a day. The other moon of the Red Planet is called Deimos.