2011 A Space Odessy ?

So, we've all seen the film 2001 & were all a bit disapointed when there was no jupiter mission in that year, in fact, apart from the shuttle & the space station, we'd seemed to have given up on deep space.

Well, the wait is over. Next year the Russians,in colaboration with the Chinese, are sending another probe to Phobos, one of the moons of Mars. They have already sent 2, the first one failed en route but the second started sending "unusual readings" back before it stopped transmitting.

The Canadians are also intending to land a probe on the moon to see what the hell this is......




The Phobos monolith (right of center) as taken by the Mars Global Surveyor (MOC Image 55103) in 1998.



Above image curtesy of Wikipedia.

The Moon is a captured asteroid, so it will not have the same geological processes as Earth that could produce such a structure, such as eroded lava tubes or tectonic uplift. The Daily Mail tried to debunk the thing last year by saying it was down to plate tectonics but such a small body doesn't have the mass to have a molten core to drive the process.

The moon also has a covering of "soil" but the scientists don't know how something with so little gravity can hold onto it.

So what is it & how did it get there ?

Buzz Aldrin, lunar astronaught wants to know the answer to the question too..

[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDIXvpjnRws"]YouTube - Buzz Aldrin Reveals Existence of Monolith on Mars Moon[/nomedia]

Could be an interesting year next year.

It had better not detract from the Walking stick cabbage competition though.

 

I used to look like this before I saw it.

[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2RMgek9DPc&feature=related"]YouTube - Kobold Maki Eyes[/nomedia]

Come to think of it, I still do.

 

My secret is out :D

 

Someones study on a bit of the actual planet.

http://www.anomalies.net/files/moon_mars/mars/graveyard/grave_yard.html