Solar eclipses on Mars Solar eclipses on Mars The two moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos, are much smaller than the Moon, greatly reducing the frequency of solar eclipses on that planet. Neither moon's apparent diameter is large enough to cover the disk of the sun, and therefore they are annular solar eclipses and can also be considered transits. Due to the small size of Phobos (about ) and its rapid orbital motion, an observer on the surface of Mars would never experience a solar eclipse for longer than about thirty seconds. Phobos also takes only 7 hours 39 minutes to orbit Mars, while
The Angry Red Planet CineMagic process: "Our set for the planet Mars cost us a couple of hundred dollars instead of the thousands we had estimated". Pink also estimates in that interview that the movie "will be made at half the original cost", confirming that "Invasion of Mars" (the film's working title before its release) was a low-budget project. The "meager" $200,000 production budget cited for "The Angry Red Planet" may therefore be a credible ballpark figure. Filming for "The Angry Red Planet" began on September 9, 1959 at Hal Roach Studios in Culver City, California, only a month after Melchior and Pink completed