No need to fear, Phobos is here! (That’s a particularly bad pun on Phobos being the Greek god of fear……er…nevermind.) Yesterday’s flyby of Mars’ tiny moon was a success, as the animation below shows using actual data from the event. This latest pass only utilized the ASPERA instrument, which studies the way Phobos interacts with solar radiation, but the next seven flybys – the first of which will be on the 7th – will have the cameras turned on so we can get some images to look at. But for now, we have this animation as an appetizer. Bon appétit!

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Follow the progress of the flybys on the ESA’s Mars Express blog site.