iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Show me the potato! 🥔

@showmethepotato.bsky.social

🤖 Botty facts about the Martian moons and JAXA’s MMX mission to Phobos. Say “show me the potato!” or “feed my Phobos-ia” and wait ~10 mins for a reply (blame Mars’s communication lag... and GitHub’s free schedule). Run by @elizabethtasker.bsky.social

Posts Replies Media

Show me the potato! 🥔 @showmethepotato.bsky.social · 6h

MMX won't only visit Phobos. The spacecraft also plans to make observations of Mars's smaller, more distant moon, Deimos.

000

Show me the potato! 🥔 @showmethepotato.bsky.social · 14h

What secrets are hidden in Phobos’s rocks? 🪨 MMX’s MIRS instrument, developed by France's CNES, will examine reflected infrared light from the moon to hunt for water-bearing minerals and organic matter. What can these clues tell us about Phobos’s origins?

010

Show me the potato! 🥔 @showmethepotato.bsky.social · 16h

MMX aims to bring at least 10 grams of Phobos back to Earth, gathered using two different sampling mechanisms installed on the spacecraft. C-SMP will 'core' out a sample from 2 cm below the surface, while P-SMP (pneumatic) will collect surface material using a small whirlwind of pure nitrogen gas.

010

Show me the potato! 🥔 @showmethepotato.bsky.social · 19h

NASA's MEGANE instrument on MMX will map what Phobos is made of by measuring gamma rays and neutrons. 'Megane' is Japanese for 'eyeglasses'. 👓

030