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Mars' Moon Phobos is Being Slowly Ripped Apart

posted by martyb on Thursday November 12 2015, @08:50PM   Printer-friendly
from the time-and-tide-waits-for-no-man dept.

Phoenix666 writes:

Orbiting a mere 3,700 miles (6,000 kilometers) above the surface of Mars, Phobos is closer to its planet than any other moon in the solar system. Mars' gravity is drawing in Phobos, the larger of its two moons, by about 6.6 feet (2 meters) every hundred years. Scientists expect the moon to be pulled apart in 30 to 50 million years.
...
Phobos' grooves were long thought to be fractures caused by the impact that formed Stickney crater. That collision was so powerful, it came close to shattering Phobos. However, scientists eventually determined that the grooves don't radiate outward from the crater itself but from a focal point nearby.

More recently, researchers have proposed that the grooves may instead be produced by many smaller impacts of material ejected from Mars. But new modeling by Hurford and colleagues supports the view that the grooves are more like "stretch marks" that occur when Phobos gets deformed by tidal forces.

Alas, far too long to prevent the base being overrun.

Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 12 2015, @10:21PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 12 2015, @10:21PM (#262385)

    So soon?! I was hoping we'd get a chance to see it in person before it happened. We must stop this now. What is causing it, pollution, carbon emissions, republicans?

  • (Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 12 2015, @10:27PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 12 2015, @10:27PM (#262388)

    The Democrats will order an investigation into this, then an oversight committee to make sure it's being done their way. Should have an answer in about a billion years.

    • (Score: 0, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 12 2015, @11:08PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 12 2015, @11:08PM (#262401)

      Wow, nice spin!!! The Democrats and oversight committees, huh? Are you serious??? Remember Kenneth Starr and his five year investigation? How's that Benghazi committee coming? Lots of new info coming out soon, I'm sure. How about them email committees?? I think another couple few dozen hearings ought to do it. Hey, we haven't had any Affordable Care Act hearings in a bit, so let's ramp up another gross or two.

  • (Score: 2) by M. Baranczak on Friday November 13 2015, @05:52AM

    by M. Baranczak (1673) on Friday November 13 2015, @05:52AM (#262522)

    What is causing it, pollution, carbon emissions, republicans?

    Obamacare.