Isro’s MOM captures image of the biggest moon of Mars

News: The Mars Colour Camera(MCC) onboard ISRO’s Mars Orbiter Mission has captured the image of Phobos, the closest and biggest moon of Mars.

Facts:

• Phobos: It is the closest and biggest moon of Mars and is largely believed to be made up of carbonaceous chondrites. 
• Significance: Phobos is nearing Mars at a rate of six feet every hundred years and at that rate, it will either crash into Mars in 50 million years or break up into a ring.

Additional Facts:

• Mars Orbiter Mission(MOM) or Mangalyaan: It is a space probe launched by the ISRO in 2013 and has been in the Martian orbit since 2014.
• Launcher: It was launched using a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket C25.
• Objectives:
  • To explore Martian surface features, mineralogy, morphology and atmosphere using indigenous scientific instruments. 
  • To develop technologies required in planning, designing, management and operations of an interplanetary mission.
• Instruments: The Mars Orbiter has five scientific instruments – Lyman Alpha Photometer(LAP), Methane Sensor for Mars(MSM), Mars Exospheric Neutral Composition Analyser(MENCA), Mars Colour Camera(MCC) and Thermal Infrared Imaging Spectrometer(TIS).