On September 30, 2024, NASA's Perseverance Mars rover captured a stunning solar eclipse as Phobos, one of Mars' moons, passed in front of the sun.

Despite its small size of just 17 miles in diameter, Phobos is significantly less massive than Earth's moon, being 157 times lighter.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) plans to launch the Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission in 2026, with the goal of collecting samples from Phobos and returning them to Earth by 2031.

Since 2004, NASA has been studying Phobos through its Mars rovers, gathering critical data about the moon's characteristics and orbit.

NASA officials noted that most days of the Martian year feature transits of Phobos, as its orbit is closely aligned with the Martian equator.

The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's broader Moon to Mars exploration strategy, which includes the Artemis missions aimed at preparing for human exploration of Mars.

Managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and built by Caltech in Pasadena, California, the Perseverance rover is equipped with advanced scientific instruments.

Phobos orbits Mars every 7.6 hours and is believed to be on a collision course with the planet, expected to either crash into Mars in about 50 million years or break apart to form a ring.

Currently, Perseverance is navigating the challenging terrain of Jezero Crater, using innovative driving techniques to reach the crater rim by December 2024.

To document the solar eclipse, Perseverance utilized its Mastcam-Z, an instrument developed in collaboration with Arizona State University, which also leads its operations.

A primary objective of the Perseverance mission is to search for signs of ancient microbial life while studying Mars' geology and climate to facilitate future human exploration.