CHENNAI: Indian space agency on Friday released an image of Phobos, the closest and biggest moon of Mars clicked on July 1 by the Mars Colour Camera on board the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM). According to Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the image was clicked by MOM when it was about 7,200 km from Mars and 4,200 km from Phobos.
"Spatial resolution of the image is 210 m. This is a composite image generated from 6 MCC frames and has been colour corrected," ISRO said. The ISRO said Phobos is largely believed to be made up of carbonaceous chondrites.
"The violent phase that Phobos has encountered is seen in the large section gouged out from a past collision (Stickney crater) and bouncing ejecta. Stickney, the largest crater on Phobos along with the other craters (Shklovsky, Roche and Grildrig) are also seen in this image," ISRO said.
The Rs 450 crore MOM was launched on Nov 5, 2013 from Indian rocket port at Sriharikota. (IANS)