Sharing photos of the “space potato,” NASA said on Instagram, “The space potato Phobos is the larger of Mars’ two moons — but its diameter is still only about 17 x 14 x 11 miles (27 x 22 x 18 kilometers). Because Phobos is so small, its gravity “It’s not strong enough to pull it into a spherical shape (like Earth’s moon), giving it a lumpy appearance.”
She also added: “Phobos is also on a collision course with Mars, although it will take some time to get there. It is approaching the Red Planet at a rate of six feet (1.8 metres) every hundred years. At this rate, the Moon will either collide with Mars within 50 A million years or it will split into a ring.”
NASA also said the image was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which has been studying Mars since 2006.
According to NASA, Martian moon Phobos is red-brown and clumpy, filled with many craters of all sizes. A white patch appears next to Stickney Crater, a particularly large crater on its right side.
Ever since NASA posted this photo, people have been going crazy over the photo. One user commented: “Who grows potatoes in space?”
Another user commented: “NASA is very serious. NASA: We found potatoes in space.”
While another said: “Well boy, we’ve made it to space.”