alienation news

New theory: catastrophe created Mars' moons

The two moons of Mars -- Phobos and Deimos -- could be the byproducts of a breakup of a huge moon that once circled the red planet, according to a new theory.
The capture of a large Martian satellite may have taken place during or shortly after the formation of the planet, with Phobos and Deimos now the surviving remnants.
Origin of the two moons presents a longstanding puzzle to which one researcher proposed the new solution at the 6th International Conference on Mars, held here last week.
"Nobody has been able to explain the origin of Phobos and Deimos," said S. Fred Singer, an atmospheric physicist, and professor emeritus of environmental sciences at the University of Virginia, and the president of the Arlington (Virginia)-based Science & Environmental Policy Project, a non-profit policy institute.