Imagine this - humanity has turned Mars into a colonial paradise.
Suddenly, one of the moons, Phobos, begins to careen towards the planet,
spiralling closer and closer to the surface of Mars. A disaster movie comes to mind,
Moonfall - when the earth's moon is about to collapse onto the planet and destroy everything!
How would future humanity react to such a catastrophe?!
Welcome to Factnomenal, and today we will be exploring the dark side of Mars’ moons.
Multiple Missions to Mars
Mars is a planet that has captured the attention of astronomers for decades. It is the only planet
in our solar system besides Earth that has shown the potential to sustain life as we know it.
Since 1971, with the landing of the Soviet Mars 3 space probe,
man has been plotting and prepping the planet for people. The Viking 1,
The Curiosity, and the Perseverance are rovers that were sent there to investigate the current
and previous habitability of the planet via biosignatures!
But all of this could be for nothing as there is a possible calamity waiting to happen on Mars.
Imagine an entire moon falling on the surface of the red planet.
But humanity hasn’t given up yet!
Lead scientist for the Mars Perseverance
rover - Dr. Ken Farley - expands on the idea of finding life on Mars.
In preparation for the arrival of humans, the latest rover has been equipped with items that
may benefit them on Mars, even a small helicopter with large air blades is on
the rover. The drone-type helicopter is a test product to see if future explorers could
use something like it to explore the planet, instead of having to traverse it themselves.
The rover is also equipped with a device that converts atmospheric Carbon dioxide (Co2) into
Oxygen (o2), a proof-of-concept regarding providing breathable air for future manned
explorers. If this invention can create a viable source of O2, future scientists won’t
have to bring oxygen with them for breathing, or for propulsion to get off the planet later.
Instead, they would be able to utilize a device like this on Mars
and create oxygen right there. This would revolutionize space travel as we know it.
With the 2021 landing of the Perseverance Rover,
NASA found exciting evidence supporting the potential for life.
They found signs of ancient magma in the form of volcanic rocks. They also found clues that there
once was abundant water in the form of rivers, deltas, and lakes located in the Jezero Crater.
Scientists are investigating rocky material for microbial biosignatures.
Doctor Foley explains how the signatures are formed. This process is very similar to how
we look in different layers of soil on earth for dinosaur fossils, but on a micro-level.
The Rover has also isolated organic molecules that are preserved in the rocks and dust
on the surface of Mars in tubes, and are leaving them to be collected at a later
date. These scientific discoveries testify to the environment of Mars billions of years ago.
With NASA planning its first manned trip to Mars as early as 2030 (or 2029 if you are Elon Musk),
there is particular interest in the fate of this planet and its fiendish moon.
Though we are exploring and dreaming of colonizing it, can we really ignore all of the warnings that
one of Mars’ moons is still locked in a death spiral with the planet?
It is predicted to make an impact like something straight out of a science fiction movie.
But, it’s anything but fiction,
it is an inevitability.
Two Terrible Twins
Mars’ moons are named after the twin children of the Greek god Ares, Phobos (Fear and Panic)
and Deimos (Terror and Dread). The twins had their Hollywood debut personified by Pain and Panic in
Disney’s Hercules. Though often comedic relief in the film, in reality the two truly are unique.
Both moons are very small. Phobos has a radius of 7 miles (11.27KM), and has
the same surface area as Luxembourg. It’s also 157 times smaller than our
Moon. Little brother Deimos has a radius of 3.85 miles (6.2km), which is smaller than
Mt. Everest. Being so petite they don’t have a strong gravitational pull,
and thus cannot maintain or achieve a spherical form, and hence are shaped like potatoes.
The most commonly held belief is that they were once a part of Jupiter's asteroid belt,
but were pushed out by its gravitational force, resulting in them finding a home around Mars.
Phobos has always been the oddball in the family. Discovered with its brother in 1877
by American astronomer Asaph Hall, it is orbiting closer to its home planet than any other natural
satellite in our solar system. Very fast-moving and eager to maintain an ominous presence,
Phobos circles Mars 2 times a day, instead of once like our Moon.
Living up to its name, inciting fear and panic, Phobos is going to collide with Mars
if it continues on its prospective path. Day by day it is creeping closer to its prophesied
demise at a speed of .72 inches (1.8 cm) per year, or six feet (1.8 metres) every 100 years!
It is up for debate about what will happen to Phobos as it approaches Mars. One camp believes
that perhaps it will break apart prior to impact, resulting in a ring of debris
circling Mars. Alternatively, others believe that it could collide with the planet.
As it is similar in size to the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs (12km wide), the
damage would be cataclysmic. Regardless of what happens to Phobos,
our little tater-tot time bomb could have a catastrophic impact on Mars.
None of this is new information to NASA. They have known about the death spiral for years,
but with the recent eclipse captured by NASA’s Perseverance rover,
we are again reminded of Phobos’ future fate.
Even if it is far off into the future, the fate of the moon seems to be written. Phobos’
moon brother Deimos has a fate that is far closer to that of our own moon. Destined to
be pulled further away from Mars, Deimos is one day going to drift off into space.
Moon Motivates Movement
Our own moon orbits us today at 477,213 miles (768,000 kilometres) away, and is our only natural
satellite. Though we have always appreciated the beauty and impact the moon has on our night sky,
it seems the moon doesn’t return our affections. It is currently ghosting us at a cruel pace of
1.5 inches (3.78 centimetres) per year, which is the same rate at which our fingernails grow.
Because of this, Scientists predict that in approximately 600 million years the Earth
and all its inhabitants will experience the last solar eclipse as the moon moves away into space.
With this reality in mind, Scientists have extensively studied what would
happen to the earth if and when it is no longer influenced by the moon.
The first noticeable change would be that our night sky would be very dark.
As the moon is what casts light on our planet when the sun is resting,
without it we would be relying exclusively on stars, or the light we create here on earth.
Another thing that would directly impact our planet would be the absence of tidal motion due to
the lack of a Moon! The gravitational pull between the moon and our planet, or tidal force, causes
water to bulge on the side that’s closest to the moon – making the Earth look kinda like an egg.
(https://www.scienceabc.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/gravity-differential-earth-moon-tidel-force-bulge-locking.jpg or
https://www.scienceabc.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Earth%E2%80%99s-bulge-increases-the-radius-of-the-moon%E2%80%99s-orbit-around-our-planet.jpg)
This results in our oceans following a rhythmic pulse as the moon orbits earth,
with the oceans and seas rising and falling with it.
Alternatively, as the moon walks away from us and gets far enough that it’s no longer linked to our
orbit - our earth's tides will be approximately one-third of what they are today. This is because
just the sun will be pulling on the earth, and its pull is much weaker as it’s so far away.
Another impact would be on our calendar. Our days would speed by as there would no
longer be any gravitational pull between the earth and the moon slowing down our spin.
The 24-hour days we are used to would be shortened to 6-12 hours instead.
Our year would be made up of over a thousand shorter days instead of our handy, normal 365.
If the fates changed and the moon rocketed towards earth like Phobos is heading towards
Mars, we would experience a different situation entirely. Instead of stillness, there would be a
huge surge in our oceans. This is because, as Dr. Tony Cook of the Aberystwyth University states,
“if the moon was even half of the distance away from the earth - the tides would be 8 times
stronger than they are at present”. There would be massive tides,
tons of coastal flooding, tsunamis, and considerable volcanic activity.
We can expect something similar on Mars when Phobos makes its descent.
We will see geographic volatility, even though it is much smaller in size and Mars has no oceans.
The act of bringing the moon closer to earth would stir up a lot of activity
that would challenge humanity's ability to survive on earth. You should expect
that similar challenges would be faced by a Mars civilization with the Phobos situation.
But here’s the good news: even though the collapse of Phobos is imminent, we have
almost an eternity to prepare for it. Give or take fifty million years! Yes, Phobos is not in
any hurry, and maybe even if we colonize Mars, we would already be looking for a new home by then.
Potential Problems Ahead
Exploring the dark recesses of the solar system allows us to excitedly look beyond our own borders
to a future of space exploration. As we gaze into the future, we find potential problems
that the human race will have to deal with, and we come to realize they are a lot closer to home.
After spending some time with the moons of our Mars, we learn a lot about how even
the smallest potato of a moon can have a huge impact on the platter of the planetary system.
When do you think humans will take their first steps on Mars? Tell us in the comments below!
If you enjoyed the video, please don’t forget to
give it a like and subscribe to our channel for more videos like this.
Thanks for watching Factnomenal, we’ll see you in the next video.