The Phobos monolith (right of center, casting long shadow) as taken by the Mars Global Surveyor (MOC Image 55103, 1998).
The location of the monolith (HiRISE image PIA10368)

The Phobos monolith is a large rock on the surface of Mars's moon Phobos.[1] It is a boulder about 85 m (279 ft) across and 90 m (300 ft) tall.[2][3] A monolith is a geological feature consisting of a single massive piece of rock. Monoliths also occur naturally on Earth, but it has been suggested that the Phobos monolith may be a piece of impact ejecta. The puzzling thing is tall rectangular pieces of stone can not be classed as boulders, so there is a question to be asked as to its real origin. The monolith is a bright object near Stickney crater, described as a "building sized" boulder, which casts a prominent shadow.[4][5] It was discovered by Efrain Palermo, who did extensive surveys of Martian probe imagery, and later confirmed by Lan Fleming, an imaging sub-contractor at NASA Johnson Space Center.[6]

The general vicinity of the monolith is a proposed landing site by Optech and the Mars Institute, for a robotic mission to Phobos known as PRIME (Phobos Reconnaissance and International Mars Exploration).[4] The PRIME mission would be composed of an orbiter and lander, and each would carry four instruments designed to study various aspects of Phobos' geology.[7] At present, PRIME has not been funded and does not have a projected launch date. Former astronaut Buzz Aldrin has spoken about the Phobos monolith and his support for a mission to Phobos.[8]

The object appears in Mars Global Surveyor images SPS252603 and SPS255103, dated 1998. The object is unrelated to another monolith located on the surface of Mars, which NASA noted as an example of a common surface feature in that region.[9]

In fiction

The Phobos monolith features in the 2012 science-fiction novel Blue Remembered Earth, wherein its surface has been entirely carved by visiting astronauts into the semblance of a wrecked spaceship.

The Phobos monolith is also an important plot point in Dietmar Wehr science-fiction novel The Daedalus Mission: A Battle For Mars, where it appears to be an artificial construct. The monolith is a source of conflict between private companies and China.

The Phobos monolith is also important in the Plot of "Doom - Knee-Deep In The Dead," a science-fiction novel written by Dafydd ab Hugh and Brad Linaweaver. The DOOM series of novels is "based on DOOM from id software." The back of the book reads, "The Gates were there on Phobos when mankind first arrived. Inert, unyielding, impossibly alien constructs, for twenty years they sat lifeless, mute testaments of their long-vanished creators, their secrets hidden. Then one day, they sprang to life . . ."

The debut studio album by The Claypool Lennon Delirium, consisting of American multi-instrumentalists Sean Lennon and Primus's Les Claypool, released on June 3, 2016, is called Monolith of Phobos.[10]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Science Illustrated - The Mysterious Moons Of Mars (10.24.2011)
  2. ↑ "BBC Earth | Home".
  3. ↑ PIA04746: Boulders on Phobos
  4. 1 2 Optech press release, "Canadian Mission Concept to Mysterious Mars moon Phobos to Feature Unique Rock-Dock Maneuver," 3 May 2007.
  5. ↑ PRIME: Phobos Reconnaissance & International Mars Exploration Archived 2007-07-24 at the Wayback Machine, Mars Institute website, accessed 27 July 2009.
  6. ↑ Fleming, Lan. "Enigmas on Mars - Phobos, Moon of Mars". thelivingmoon. Blue Knight Productions. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
  7. ↑ Mullen, Leslie (30 April 2009). "New Missions Target Mars Moon Phobos". Astrobiology Magazine. Space.com. Retrieved 5 September 2009.
  8. ↑ "C-SPAN: Buzz Aldrin Reveals Existence of Monolith on Mars Moon". YouTube. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021.
  9. ↑ A rectangular object found jutting out of Mars's surface and caught on camera by the University of Arizona has caused speculation over the nature of the "monolith" and its origins. 9:45AM BST, 6 August 2009
  10. ↑ Reed, Ryan (21 March 2016). "Sean Lennon, Primus' Les Claypool Unite for Collaborative LP, Tour". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
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