Mars lake was discovered using the MARSIS radar on board the "Mars Express" orbiter, and the profiles were collected between May 2012 and December 2015. The lake is centered at 193°E, 81°S, a flat area that does not exhibit any peculiar topographic characteristics. It is mostly surrounded by higher ground except on its eastern side, where there is a depression. Mars has two relatively small (compared to Earth's) natural moons, Phobos (about in diameter) and Deimos (about in diameter), which orbit close to the planet. Asteroid capture is a long-favored theory, but their origin remains uncertain. Both satellites were discovered in
Phobos (moon) presence of voids and indicate that it is not a solid chunk of rock but a porous body. The porosity of Phobos was calculated to be 30% ± 5%, or a quarter to a third being empty. Phobos has been photographed in close-up by several spacecraft whose primary mission has been to photograph Mars. The first was "Mariner 7" in 1969, followed by "Viking 1" in 1977, "Mars Global Surveyor" in 1998 and 2003, "Mars Express" in 2004, 2008, and 2010, and "Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter" in 2007 and 2008. On August 25, 2005, the "Spirit" rover, with an excess of