NASA shared a photo of the “Space Potato” on Instagram, saying, “Space Potato Phobos is the larger of Mars’ two moons, but still only measures about 17 x 14 x 11 miles (27 x 22 x 18 kilometers) in diameter. Because Phobos is so small, its gravity is not strong enough to give it a spherical shape (like Earth’s Moon), giving it a blocky shape.”
He added: “Phobos is also on a collision course with Mars, but it will take a while to get there. Phobos is approaching the Red Planet at a speed of six feet (1.8 meters) every 100 years. At this rate, it will either collide with Mars or break up into a ring shape in 50 million years.”
NASA also said the image was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, a spacecraft that has been studying Mars since 2006.
According to NASA, Moons of Mars Phobos is reddish-brown and rugged, dotted with craters of various sizes, including a white spot next to the particularly large crater, Stickney Crater, on the right.
People have been going crazy over the photo since NASA posted it, with one user commenting: “Who would plant potatoes in space?”
“NASA is serious. NASA: discovers potatoes in space,” commented another user.
Meanwhile, another person said, “Okay, boy, we got to go into space.”