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Phil Stooke @philstooke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 26m

Attention shifted to the South Pole-Aitken basin for the Chang'e 4 lander. An earlier map showed 5 areas of interest in SPA and here we see them in more detail. This is a very interesting region, the oldest clearly seen impact basin on the Moon, the largest […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

A map of the central part of the South Pole-Aitken basin (SPA), showing 5 rectangular areas of interest from a 2018 Chinese study. The area eventually chosen was at the southwest corner of the area labelled S2, in Von Kármán crater.

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Phil Stooke @philstooke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 23h

Csilla Orgel of the Freie Universität Berlin, et al., suggested sites in the Apollo basin in SPA at LPSC in 2018: www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2018/… Apollo is an enticing target. Orgel (then at ESA) updated this study in 2024 (not […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Sites suggested for Chang'e 4 in the Apollo basin inside the South Pole-Aitken basin, by Csilla Orgel and colleagues in 2018. At left an overall map shows the three sites, all on dark basalt plains inside Apollo. At right two small maps show the sites in more detail with possible geological targets for the rover to visit, assuming it could drive about 10 km.

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Phil Stooke @philstooke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 23/10/2026

All those potential sites for Chang'e 4 are in mid-latitudes to reduce thermal stress. One group of sites are impact basins, omitting equatorial ones. One study identified areas shown as white boxes, north and south, but SPA called loudest so south was […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Four small maps zoom in to a pit or skylight in Mare Ingenii, suggested as a target for Chang'e 4 by Lu and Shevchenko.

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Phil Stooke @philstooke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 22/10/2026

There are lots of good targets on the farside but the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) basin is a prime candidate - a huge area, not a specific site. The designation is from two features which bracket it: Aitken crater just south of the equator and the south pole […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

A map of the lunar farside (omitting the polar regions), showing many candidate landing sites for Chang'e 4. They will be described in the next few posts.

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Phil Stooke @philstooke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 21/10/2026

A very quick look at Queqiao. The image is one of many from a little monitoring camera. The satellite was designed to relay data to and from Chang'e 4 on the far side, and it worked well for several years. Then it seemed to be low on fuel for orbit […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

An image of the Moon and Earth from a small monitoring camera on Quequiao. The Moon looks bigger because it's closer.

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Phil Stooke @philstooke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 19/10/2026

I accidentally outed the end of the Longjiang 2 story - yes, it crashed as its orbit evolved under the influence of lunar mascons. The impact was predicted and the prediction was good enough for LRO to locate the impact site. These illustrations show the […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Three images show the location of the Longjiang 2 impact deep on the far side of the Moon. At top is a wide area context map with numerous named craters. A small ellipse shows the predicted impact region. At lower left the impact area is enlarged. it's in a crater called Van Gent X. There was a small possibility of it hitting the rim of the crater but it cleared that and hit a ridge on the northern wall of the crater. At lower right the very small impact crater and some dark ejecta can be seen, highlighted by small white arrows.

Four maps zoom in on the Longjiang 2 impact site to help find it in the original images.

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Phil Stooke @philstooke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 15/10/2026

The impact of the Chang'e 5 T-1 upper stage was predicted, with Bill Gray of Project Pluto first bringing it to our attention: www.projectpluto.com/temp/dscovr.htm (the 'dscovr' in the name is because it was misidentified at first). My map shows […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

5 maps show predictions for the location of the Chang'e 5 T-1 upper stage impact on the Moon. At top a context map shows three predictions, all in a line (the trajectory is well known but the location of the object along that trajectory is less well established). Below it, two maps zoom in to the area of the impact. At bottom left is an incorect prediction. The actual impact crater (actually a double crater) is show at bottom right.

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Phil Stooke @philstooke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 14/10/2026

... but it missed atmospheric re-entry and looped back out to the Moon again. it spent over 7 years in a long lopping orbit, occasionally being deflected by lunar gravity. Stories like this cannot end well. Sure enough, in March 2022 it hit the Moon. Its […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Four maps zoom in to the impact site of the Chang'e 5 T-1 launch vehicle upper stage. The final map shows the impact site as a double crater.

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Phil Stooke @philstooke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 13/10/2026

To demonstrate what I just said about the resolution of the Chang'e 5 T-1 image, here is an LRO narrow-angle camera image (from Quickmap) showing the largest crater in panel D in the previous post. China, of course, used LRO data for its site selection, as […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

This image shows the largest crater in the Chang'e 5 T-1 image shown in the previous post, but as seen in LRO images via Quickmap, to illustrate the difference in resolution. LRO narrow angle camera images are greatly superior, at least 10 times the resolution.

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Phil Stooke @philstooke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 13/10/2026

Here are the only two images released from the Change 5 T-1 survey of the Chang'e 5 landing area. They are wide (C) and narrow (D) angle views (low and high resolution). The Chang'e 5 landing area was quite wide east--west and these images are in its western […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Two images from Chang'e 5 T-1 (top) and a map of the area they cover (bottom). The 2 images are wide angle (top left) and narrow angle (top right). This area is west of the actual landing site of Chang'e 5.

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Phil Stooke @philstooke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 12/10/2026

Here are a couple of images that Chang'e 5 T-1's service module took. We see the lunar farside with Mare Moscoviense near the middle and Earth in the top left corner. The inset is a closeup of Mare Marginis on the limb as seen from Earth. The Service module […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Pictures from China's Chang'e 5 T-1 mission, a test of a sample return system. The main picture shows the far side of the Moon (right) with the distant Earth at upper left. A inset at lower left shows a closer image of Mare Marginis.

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Phil Stooke @philstooke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 11/10/2026

Yutu stopped working as it was approaching the Chang'e 3 lander. A Chinese map made it clear the next stop was to be the crater just north of the lander. But where after that? Several papers described options. One showed Yutu driving northwest to stop on a […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Three small maps showing possible future paths for Chang'e 3's rover Yutu. At top left is a path to the northwest, about 300 m, to stop on a small hill with a good view into a nearby crater. At top right a map shows 3 feasible routes into the 3 craters around the landing site, if they were chosen as destinations. The third map, at bottom, shows a path to a small crater southwest of the lander and a path to the northeast to reach 'northeast crater'. That crater's ejecta might have exposed some deeper rock layers, especially an older lava flow buried at the landing site.

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Phil Stooke @philstooke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 10/10/2026

The rover tracks are visible in that previous image and can be compared with the earlier map. Here is another view of those tracks, taken by LRO. This was taken after the rover stopped moving. The big rock, the rover and the lander are all in a line. The […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

An image from Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter showing Chang'e 3 on the Moon, taken after the rover stopped moving. The large rock, the rover and the lander are in a line. A bright area around the lander is caused by rocket plume effects on the regolith during landing. The rover tracks are visible as a dark line.

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Phil Stooke @philstooke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 10/10/2026

This curious image started as a panorama from the rover when it was near the big rock "Outer Fence". it has been projected into a circle, a polar projection, but with the radial scale modified (shrinking it in the middle) so it resembles a stereographic […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

A panorama taken by Yutu when it was near the big rock called 'Outer Fence'. It has been projected into a circle. The rover is in the middle and the lander is at upper right, rather distorted. The image shows the rover's tracks.

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Phil Stooke @philstooke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 09/10/2026

We should take a look at the actors in our story - Here are the rover Yutu (just after descending from the lander) and the Chang'e 3 lander (imaged by Yutu near the end of its drive, looking northeast). There is a wider view of the lander taken from near that […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Yutu imaged by the Chang'e 3 lander just after descending to the lunar surface.

The Chang'e 3 lander imaged by Yutu near the end of its drive.

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Phil Stooke @philstooke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 08/10/2026

This map shows the route of Chang'e 3's little rover Yutu (Jade Rabbit). It worked through the first day, survived the night, and then operated for the first half of the second lunar day before suddenly failing on 15 January. The map shows dates for the […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

A map of the route of Chang'e 3's rover Yutu. The rover drove off the lander on its north side, looped around the lander on its east side, and imaged the lander from several positions. Then it drove south, stopping for the lunar night about 30 m south of the lander. On day 2 it moved west to the big rock variously called Outer Fence, Loong Rock, Pyramid Rock or Long Yan, then moved towards the lander, planning to pass it on its west side. Before it got to the lander it suddenly stopped working. It could communicate and use its radar but could not drive, turn its camera or deploy its small arm carrying one of its instruments. It survived for several months like that.

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Phil Stooke @philstooke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 07/10/2026

The base image for that map is from the lander's descent images. Here is a table showing the names as seen in two different sources - obviously there are translation differences here. #china #moon

A table giving those Chinese names with notes about which western constellation the smaller Chinese features correspond to.

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Phil Stooke @philstooke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 07/10/2026

This map shows the full set of names given to the small craters and rocks around the Chang'e 3 landing site (note it excludes the names of larger features around the site, shown in an earlier post). It also shows the descent path of the lander and the […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

A map of the Chang'e 3 landing site showing names of craters and rocks. The lander and rover are shown as well as the descent path of the lander.

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Phil Stooke @philstooke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 06/10/2026

Here the first Chang'e 3 panorama has been projected into a circle to show the horizon, north at the top. The method exaggerates the horizon relief, making subtle crater rims and hills easier to see. The names come from traditional Chinese astronomy. China […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

A circular image in which the Chang'e 3 lander panorama has been projected into a circle. North is at the top, the lander is in the middle and the rover is seen with its tracks northeast of the rover. The nearby craters show up in their correct directions from the lander. Several features are named.

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Phil Stooke @philstooke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 06/10/2026

More views from the Chang'e 3 lander and rover. At top is a view of the rocks around Celestial Spring crater. This would have been the next stop for the rover if it had not failed during the second lunar day. Below it is a rover image of the Outer Fence rock […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Three images from Chang'e 3. The top view is looking north from the lander and shows a rocky-rimmed crater called Celestial Spring. Names will be explained later. The two lower images are from the rover, Yutu. One shows the large rock seen earlier from a different direction. The other shows the rock-strewn walls of Zi Wei crater. just west of the landing site.

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Phil Stooke @philstooke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 05/10/2026

Here is an annotated version of the panorama with just one view of the rover. The names of features will be shown in another map later. The big rock seen at each end of the panorama had several names at different times but 'Outer Fence' is the semi-official […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

A full panorama of the Chang'e 3 landing site with a few feature names added, as well as direction indicators along the top. Parts of the lander take up most of the foreground. Beyond it, numerous craters and scattered rocks are visible.

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Phil Stooke @philstooke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 04/10/2026

These 4 maps zoom in to the Chang'e 3 landing site to help find it in images. Distant features seen in surface images are tentatively identified in the first map. Names of the site itself and some craters are also shown. With this first landing by China, the […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Four maps make up this composite image, zooming in from an initial context map about 30 km across (top left) to an extreme closeup (bottom right). The context image shows some distant features tentatively identified in surface images. The third image (bottom left) gives the names of the site itself and 3 craters which are taken from traditional Chinese astronomy. The last image shows the lander and its rover on the surface, and the landing target point which is about 75 m northeast of the lander.

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Phil Stooke @philstooke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 03/10/2026

The top map here shows the Sinus Iridum landing area - see how it extends outside the 'bay' - and high resolution coverage by Chang'e 2. The high resolution came from dropping the orbit to only 15 km altitude from the normal 100 km orbit. It was done in 2 […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Two maps of the Chang'e 3 landing site. Both maps cover the semicircular 'bay' called Sinus Iridum - a large crater mostly with lava which covers half of its rim. The top one shows the official Chang'e 3 landing area, a rectangle crossing Sinus Iridum and extending east of it into Mare Imbrium. Most of it is covered by Chang'e 2 high resolution images which are shown with white outlines. The lower map shows some geological features including ridges (white lines) and a young lava flow (dark on the map).

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Phil Stooke @philstooke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 02/10/2026

Sinus Iridum was chosen quite early for the Chang'e 3 site so Chang'e 2 could image it. It is at 45 north where mid-day temperatures are less fierce than at the equator - all Chinese landers have gone to mid-latitude sites. Here is another suggestion about […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Five panels show two sites suggested for Chang'e3 in a 2014 study by Le Qiao. The top map shows Sinus Iridum and parts of Mare Imbrium east of it. The actual Chang'e 3 site is at the far right of the map. Two boxes locate the new suggestions. Below that map are two mid-resolution views to locate the sites, and two high resolution images identifying the exact locations.

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Phil Stooke @philstooke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 01/10/2026

Two studies at about the same time as the previous map showed specific ideas about sites. The first one shown here is Aristarchus. Its floor is rough but one small area might be smooth enough for a landing. For a first landing attempt, this would be very […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Two maps showing ideas from around 2010 for Chang'e 3 landing sites. At left is Aristarchus, one of the craters shown on yesterday's map. A small smooth part of the crater floor was suggested as a landing site, but it would be very challenging - small and surrounded by high crater walls. At right is Sinus Iridum, the preferred site for the mission. This version of the mission shows a north-south oriented traverse 180 km long for the ground-penetrating radar instrument. The distance is far greater than the mission's small rover could possibly achieve.

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Phil Stooke @philstooke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 30/09/2026

We now move to Chang'e 3, the first Chinese lander, with its rover Yutu. Yutu (Jade Rabbit) was the companion of Chang'e on the Moon. Launch was in late 2013 but landing sites were discussed as far back as 2009. The first statement in a Xinhua press release […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Sites suggested for China's first Moon lander, Chang'e 3, in 2009 and 2010. Four are young craters and three are basalt plains (maria).

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Phil Stooke @philstooke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 29/09/2026

After Chang'e 2's mapping work ended, 3 extended missions were considered for it: crash on the Moon, return to Earth (testing navigation?) or orbit the Sun. The last was chosen. First, in June 2011 it set off for the Sun-Earth L2 Lagrange point. After 8 […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

a Chang'e 2 image of asteroid 4179 Toutatis. The red-brown colour may be exaggerated. The asteroid is 4 km long and very irregular in shape, apparently consisting of two objects stuck together. There are few obvious craters but many rocks scattered over its surface.

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Phil Stooke @philstooke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 28/09/2026

It didn't really change, of course, it was just misinterpreted. E is a strange pit, presumably a kind of collapse feature. C, D and E are all in Mare Serenitatis. These are from the stereo science camera system, but Chang'e 2 also had several monitoring […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Four images from a monitoring camera on Chang'e 2 showing part of the spacecraft against a backdrop of the Moon.

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Phil Stooke @philstooke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 28/09/2026

Let's see a few representative images from Chang'e 2. These were taken from a site I can't link to at the moment. A is one of the first images of the mission showing a region near the Chang'e 3 landing site. B is a fractured floor crater. C is a fracture […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

$Chang'e 2 images released by CNSA and the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program (CLEP). At top left is a view of an area near the Chang'e 3 landing site. Top middle: a crater with a fractured floor. Top right: a fracture complex in Mare Serenitatis. Bottom left: Linné, a small crater in Mare Serenitatis. Bottom right: an unusual collapse structure in otherwise typical mare basalt.$

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Phil Stooke @philstooke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 26/09/2026

Here a set of 4 maps zooms in to locate the site of the Chang'e 1 impact. I find this useful for locating things so I do it for all landers and impacts for which we have an exact location. This was my 2017 LPSC abstract on this site among others […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

A set of 4 maps zooming in on the Chang'e 1 impact site.

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Phil Stooke @philstooke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 26/09/2026

This map shows where the Chang'e 1 impact is relative to a couple of other old missions, both Soviet sample return missions. #maps #china #moon

A map of part of Mere Fecunditatis on the Moon, showing the location of the Chang'e 1 impact at lower left and two other missons in the vicinity, the Soviet Union's Luna 16 and Luna 20 sample return missions.

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Phil Stooke @philstooke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 25/09/2026

Here is that closer look. A distinct fan of ejecta spreads out to the north, as I would expect from a south to north trajectory. What about the impact crater? It's more of a puzzle. The crater at the vertex of the fan seems to be a pre-existing feature. A […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

A close-up of the Chang'e 1 impact crater. It's not really a crater, though. A bright fan of ejecta originates from the north edge of a pre-existing crater and extends to the north (top). A black spot on the south rim of the crater is the original impact site, cut into the crater rim. Image numbers are in the file name if you save the file.

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Phil Stooke @philstooke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 25/09/2026

Here is the result. The LRO image is clearer but the basic pattern of bright spots is visible in both views. But there in the middle is a bright spot which only shows in the LRO image. It formed between 1972 and c. 2015, close to the expected location. No […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Two images show the same area in an Apollo 16 image and an LRO image. Most bright craters are in both images, but one is only seen in the LRO image. It is the Chang'e 1 impact site.

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Phil Stooke @philstooke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 25/09/2026

This is an example of a crater near the Chang'e 1 impact area which I suspected might be the crash site. It has bright ejecta mainly on the north side - downrange for a south to north trajectory. But the crater looks like a natural impact, circular, not […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

This image of a small crater near the Chang'e 1 impact site was one candidate for the impact crater I was looking for. Image numbers (it is a composite of 2 frames merged to reduce noise) are in the file name if you save the file.

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Phil Stooke @philstooke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 24/09/2026

The search for the Chang'e 1 impact site was helped by a new analysis reported here: files.sciengine.com/pdfs/1674-7313/… This paper gives a different location: 1.80° S, 52.23° E. It is based on analysis of images taken during […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

An image from Quickmap showing a second prediction for the Chang'e 1 impact site. A small blue dot marks the predicted impact point.

This is a zoomed in view of the same site. No obvious candidate for the Chang'e 1 impact crater is visible here.

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Phil Stooke @philstooke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 23/09/2026

The paper I linked to yesterday said that Chang'e 1 was "guided to crash on the Moon on March 1st, 2009, at 52.36°E, 1.50°S, in the north of Mare Fecunditatis". This is based on tracking the spacecraft during the final orbit. It crashed on the sunlit […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

An image from Quickmap showing the estimated location of the Chang'e 1 spacecraft impact. Two prominent craters are visible with a dot at the suggested impact site.

A closer view of the Chang'e 1 impact site from Quickmap. A small dot lies between several subdued craters. Small craters, several with bright ejecta indicating a young age, are scattered around the image.

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Phil Stooke @philstooke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 22/09/2026

Naturally, China has its share of scientists or inventors commemorated on the Moon - e.g. Cai Lun, inventor of paper. When this new map and topographic data was available a desire for some new names arose. Here we see four names from papers in c. 2010-2012 […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Two maps show features named in papers by Chinese authors based on Chang'e 1 data but shown here on LRO basemaps. At left are two very old, subdued depressions on the far side, not named officially. They were labelled Guang Han Gong and Wu Gang. At right is part of Oceanus Procellarum on the near side, where two features long known but not actually given official names are found. The Aristarchus plateau was named Guishu. The broad dome on which sit the Marius Hills was named Yutu. These are all names from Chinese mythology.

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Phil Stooke @philstooke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 06/09/2026

A quick one today. Here is the Red Rocks site in the southern hemisphere of Phobos ... and in both the north and south for Deimos. I only just figured out I can post more than one image at once. #maps #mars #phobos #deimos

The Red Rocks landing site in the southern hemisphere of Phobos. It's on the Kepler Ridge. The map shows craters and grooves plus an outline. Within it Mars is visible and there are periods of constant summer sunlight.

Two maps of parts of Deimos showing the small areas where the Red Rocks study noted that Mars was visible and prolonged summer sunlight was available. Here a crew could operate rovers and landers on Mars in real time, perhaps including robotic sample return missions. Top : northern hemisphere. Bottom: southern hemisphere.

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Phil Stooke @philstooke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 05/09/2026

Here is a closeup map of the Red Rocks site in the northern hemisphere of Phobos. The irregular outline is the region with prolonged summer sunlight and a direct view of the whole disk of Mars (but not the poles of Mars - Phobos is too close to see either […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

A map of part of the northern hemisphere of Phobos with one of the Red Rocks landing areas. Several craters and grooves are shown as well as an irregular outline surrounding a region with a direct view of Mars and prolonged summer sunlight. Two specific landing points are identified.

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Phil Stooke @philstooke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 04/09/2026

These maps are based on the Red Rocks study. Phobos and Deimos are mapped in my usual style, 2 opposite hemispheres with the zero meridian (facing Mars) in the middle. Black lines surround the region in which Mars is fully visible. Around that area, gray […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Maps of Phobos (top) and Deimos (bottom), each in two hemispheres with the zero meridian (facing Mars) in the middle. On them are plotted three sets of lines. Black lines surround the region in which Mars is fully visible. Around that area, gray lines surround the region in which the disk of Mars is partly visible. Around each pole white lines surround areas which experience areas with permanent summer sunlight (or close to it). If you want to operate rovers on the surface of Mars from one of the moons you want to be in one of the small areas where prolonged sunlight and full visibility of Mars overlap.

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Phil Stooke @philstooke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 01/09/2026

There have been many proposals for missions to the moons of Mars. Here I look briefly at a few of them, specifically those for which a landing site or region was identified - and are on this map. Europlanet was an ESA study which included a landing site […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Phobos and Deimos are both mapped here, Phobos above, Deimos below, each divided into 2 opposite hemispheres with the zero meridian in the middle. On them are plotted a selection of potential landing targets for various mission proposals from around 2010. The majority of them are in the region facing Mars and only one called Merlin targeted the anti-Mars side of Deimos.

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Phil Stooke @philstooke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 31/08/2026

Here are closeups of these Phobos-Grunt sites. A shows the so-called monolith in the first suggested site. C gives us the last set of sites, and the final 2 sites were, by chance, partly covered by the highest resolution Viking images of Phobos, so D and E […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

5 small maps show the Phobos-Grunt sites in more detail. Top left shows the earliest site with a big rock nicknamed 'the monolith'. Top right shows a later pair of overlapping sites. These were covered by Mars Global Surveyor images but faced Mars, which causes problems for mission operations. Lower left shows the group of 4 sites on the side of Phobos facing away from Mars. The top two were preferred, and two images at middle and lower right show them in the best Viking images available - which were still not very good.

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Phil Stooke @philstooke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 30/08/2026

A Phobos-Grunt landing area was described by Basilevsky and Shingareva in 2010, extending from 20 N to 20 S and 100 to 150 E. 2 sites were selected in it, as shown on this map, using Viking images because Mars Express images of the area were not available […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

A map like the one posted yesterday but with new landing sites for Phobos-Grunt shown on the side of Phobos facing away from Mars. The final pair of sites became the targets for the lander, but sadly its upper stage rocket failed and the mission was lost.

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Phil Stooke @philstooke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 29/08/2026

Over the next few years the Phobos-Grunt mission was delayed and more thought could be given to landing sites. In 2003 a paper by Kuzmin et al. in Solar System Research described a larger landing area on the other side of the prime meridian but still facing […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

A map of the trailing side of Phobos (facing backwards along its orbit) showing some 2003 landing areas for Phobos-Grunt. A large box was suggested as the area of interest. Two overlapping large circles were specific areas of interest, and actual sites might be found in them. Later the area of interest was shrunk to a much smaller box, also shown, and it includes parts of those circles.

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Phil Stooke @philstooke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 28/08/2026

The first suggestions for landing sites for Phobos-Grunt put it between Stickney crater and the zero meridian, specifically in the area of the highest resolution Mars Global Surveyor image which we saw earlier, and very specifically near that large boulder […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

A map of the leading side (facing forwards along the orbit) of Phobos. The map is a mosaic of the best images from Viking and Mars Express, with a grid and placenames. Marked at the right edge of it is a potential landing site near the large 'monolith' rock seen in a Mars Global Surveyor image. This was the first suggested landing site for Phobos-Grunt.

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Phil Stooke @philstooke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 27/08/2026

Here are closeups of the Gulliver sampling sites on Deimos. There are only 2 named craters on Deimos: Swift and Voltaire. We see Swift on the site 6 map. Jonathan Swift wrote Gulliver's Travels (1726) which explains the mission name Gulliver - but why […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Six small maps show the 6 early candidate places on Deimos considered for sampling by the Gulliver mission, pending better images.

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Phil Stooke @philstooke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 26/08/2026

Gulliver was a sample return mission to Deimos, proposed in 2006 and 2020 but not selected. The spacecraft would touch down briefly and rise up again, using a rotating brush system to gather several kg of the surface material. The sampling site would be […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

A map of Deimos in two hemispheres showing six possible sampling regions for a proposed mission called Gulliver. Regions 1 to 5 were mentioned in the proposal and region 6 was mapped as well though not on the list. The actual site would be chosen using images from the spacecraft.

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Phil Stooke @philstooke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 25/08/2026

These maps show the areas on Phobos and Deimos imaged by HiRISE. The Phobos map shows an area seen only in light reflected off Mars ('marsshine'). I didn't mention this, but it is shown in an image linked to from the website I gave a link for earlier. This is […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Maps of Phobos (top) and Deimos (bottom), both in two hemispheres with the Mars-facing longitude (zero) in the middle. Over them are drawn the outlines of areas covered by the HiRISE images we have been looking at. This includes an area seen only in light reflected off Mars.

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Phil Stooke @philstooke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 24/08/2026

HiRISE imaged Deimos in 2009. This link gives a description of the images: www.uahirise.org/releases/deimos This link gives you both images: static.uahirise.org/images/2009/dei… Here I have turned the two images upside down […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Two images of Deimos from HiRISE, the camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. They are taken from https://static.uahirise.org/images/2009/deimos/Deimos.png but oriented with north at the top and processed to enhance visibility of features in the brightest and darkest areas. Craters and bright spots are visible but overall the surface is very smooth compared with Phobos.

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Phil Stooke @philstooke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 23/08/2026

HiRISE, the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, has taken amazing images of Phobos and Deimos despite never getting very close to them. They can be seen here: www.uahirise.org/releases/phobos There are 2 […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Part of Phobos seen by the HiRISE camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The image includes red areas and white areas - the white is what was called blue in earlier mentions of colour. It's called blue just because it is less red than the red bits, so closer to the blue end of the spectrum. Craters, grooves, individual rocks and places where red material has apparently slid down slopes are all shown.

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