Are Mars's moons homegrown?

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Are Mars's moons homegrown-or snatched from the asteroid belt?

Long after astronomers found moons orbiting other planets in our solar system, Mars remained a loner. It wasn’t until the late 1800s, when astronomer Asaph Hall tried, failed, and then-at the urging of his wife-tried again, that scientists got their first peek at the Red Planet’s two tiny moons, which Hall named Phobos and Deimos.

A century later, spacecraft images revealed that the moons look like asteroids-dark, crater-pocked, and potato-shaped-suggesting Mars had snatched them from the nearby asteroid belt. Now, planetary scientists have conducted the first computer simulations that bolster a controversial alternative idea: The satellites formed as our own moon did, after a big object smashed into the planet and kicked up debris.

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[Doc Socks Junior]

Sure, mechanically it works out. But a lot of things work out mechanically. I would like some compositional data from the moons to really have some more certainty.

[Waspie_Dwarf]

I would like some compositional data from the moons to really have some more certainty.

Which is exactly the point made by the article:

All the scientists agree on how to resolve the controversy: Send a spacecraft to the moons. A moon-spawning collision should have vaporized water ice and hydrogen, leaving the satellites with none.

[Doc Socks Junior]

Which is exactly the point made by the article:

Nice. I'm glad I'm in agreement with scientists. Gives me a warm fuzzy feeling inside.

I did read the article, by the way. I was gratified to see that my initial reaction was shared by other researchers.