QUESTION:
Could the Mars Global Surveyor be used to detect and map carbonates in the
rocks on the moons Phobos and Deimos?

ANSWER from Phil Christenson on October 23, 1997:
It would be possible to search for carbonates on Phobos and Deimos using the
TES instrument.  Unfortunately, the MGS spacecraft probably won't come close
enough to these moons to permit detailed views.  We do, however, plan to
observe them from a distance.  The moons will only fill a small fraction of
our field of view, but, by combining observations over many orbits, it
should be possible to build up a reasonably good spectrum.  This spectrum
will provide us the composition of the entire moon, and, if carbonates make
up more than a few percent of the total surface, we will be able to detect
them.

Phil Christensen