A ‘space potato‘ is set for a collision with Mars.
The tater – known as Phobos – is one of the planet’s two moons.
Thanks to its lumpy shape, it looks like a spud.
It sits at a tiny size of 7 x 14 x 11 miles (27 by 22 by 18 kilometres) in diameter.
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Because it is so small, its gravity is not strong enough to pull it into a sphere-like shape similar to the Earth’s moon.
The image of the spud, taken by the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera, has gone viral – with many people cracking jokes, as reported by What’s The Jam.
The post has over 430,000 likes.
One user wrote: “Who plant potatoes for space?”
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Another person said: “I like my fries with the skin on. Oh, and a litre of cola.”
Someone else commented: “Haha yes! Definitely would remind you of a potato. Taking a peek…”
“That’s where Ferrero Rocher came from,” added another person.
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“1 plate plz,” added someone else.
According to NASA, the moon – the larger of the two surrounding the planet is – set to crash with Mars.
But don’t worry, it’ll be a while yet.
“Phobos is also on a collision course with Mars – though it’ll take a while to get there,” an extract of the caption reads.
“It’s nearing the Red Planet at a rate of six feet (1.8 meters) every hundred years.
“At that rate, the moon will either crash into Mars in 50 million years or break up into a ring.”
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