NASA's MAVEN spacecraft performed a previously unscheduled maneuver this week to avoid a collision in the near future with Mars' moon Phobos.
The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft has been orbiting Mars for just over two years, studying the Red Planet's upper atmosphere, ionosphere and interactions with the sun and solar wind. On Tuesday, Feb. 28, the spacecraft carried out a rocket motor burn that boosted its velocity by 0.4 meters per second (less than 1 mile per hour). Although a small correction, it was enough that -- projected to one week later when the collision would otherwise have occurred -- MAVEN would miss the lumpy, crater-filled moon by about 2.5 minutes.
This is the first collision avoidance maneuver that the MAVEN spacecraft has performed at Mars to steer clear of Phobos. The orbits of both MAVEN and Phobos are known well enough that this timing difference ensures that they will not collide. ...
Know the quiet place within your heart and touch the rainbow of possibility; be
alive to the gentle breeze of communication, and please stop being such a jerk. — Garrison Keillor
Ablutophobia – fear of bathing, washing, or cleaning
Agyrophobia – fear of crossing streets
Alektorophobia- fear of chickens
Coulrophobia – fear of clowns
Dromophobia – fear of crossing streets
Globophobia – fear of balloons
Koumpounophobia - fear of buttons
Nostophobia – fear of returning home
Phobophobia – fear of fear itself or of having a phobia
Pogonophobia – fear of beards
Pupaphobia – fear of puppets
Siderodromophobia – fear of trains or railroads
Tetraphobia – fear of the number 4
Xylophobia – fear of trees, forests or wood
