Deimos and Phobos Interior Explorer
ESA spaceflight mission concept to study the moons of Mars
Deimos and Phobos Interior Explorer (DePhine) is a European mission concept to use a dedicated orbiter to explore the two moons of Mars: Phobos and Deimos. The mission concept was proposed in 2016 to the European Space Agency's Cosmic Vision programme for launch in 2030, but it was not chosen as a finalist for the M5 mission class.
Overview
DePhine was proposed in 2016 to ESA's Cosmic Vision programme as an M-class (medium class) mission for launch in 2030 as the M5 mission. It was proposed by the Institute of Planetary Research of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and a study team with representatives of the scientific community and the space industry. The mission would explore the origin and the evolution of the two Martian moons, and would also contribute to the general questions of planetary formation and the workings of the Solar System.
The origin of the Martian moons is controversial. Phobos and Deimos both have much in common with carbonaceous C-type asteroids, with spectra, albedo, and density very similar to those of C- or D-type asteroids. Based on their similarity, one hypothesis is that both moons may be captured main-belt asteroids. Another hypothesis is that the moons of Mars may have formed after a huge collision with a protoplanet one third the mass of Mars that formed a ring around Mars. A third hypothesis is that they may have co-accreted with the parent planet.
The public source identifies “Deimos and Phobos Interior Explorer” as eSA spaceflight mission concept to study the moons of Mars. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Deimos, Phobos and Interior.
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This entry incorporates text from “Deimos and Phobos Interior Explorer” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.