Fear and Dread

In 45 years of photographing Mars up close, no spacecraft had ever gotten a picture of both its moons, Phobos (Fear) and Deimos (Dread), together—until last month.The High Resolution Stereo Camera on Europe’s Mars Express orbiter took advantage of a rare alignment to snap this image of the two moon…

Image: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

In 45 years of photographing Mars up close, no spacecraft had ever gotten a picture of both its moons, Phobos (Fear) and Deimos (Dread), together—until last month.

The High Resolution Stereo Camera on Europe's Mars Express orbiter took advantage of a rare alignment to snap this image of the two moons on November 5. Phobos, the larger one, was 7,300 miles from the spacecraft, and Deimos was 16,300 miles away.

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