Meteroid Impact On Mars
NASA’s InSight Lander Detects Stunning Meteoroid Impact on Mars
NASA’s InSight lander recorded a magnitude 4 marsquake last Dec. 24, but scientists learned only later the cause of that quake: a meteoroid strike estimated to be one of the biggest seen on Mars since NASA began exploring the cosmos.
What’s more, the meteoroid excavated boulder-size chunks of ice buried closer to the Martian equator than ever found before – a discovery with implications for NASA’s future plans to send astronauts to the Red Planet.
Scientists determined the quake resulted from a meteoroid impact when they looked at before-and-after images from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) and spotted a new, yawning crater. Offering a rare opportunity to see how a large impact shook the ground on Mars, the event and its effects are detailed in two papers published Thursday, Oct. 27, in the journal Science.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
#NASA #jpl #jetpropulsionlaboratory #marshallspaceflightcenter #msfc #mars #moontomars #planet #space #MarsReconnaissanceOrbiter #MRO #InSightLander
Meteroid Impact On Mars
NASA’s InSight Lander Detects Stunning Meteoroid Impact on Mars
NASA’s InSight lander recorded a magnitude 4 marsquake last Dec. 24, but scientists learned only later the cause of that quake: a meteoroid strike estimated to be one of the biggest seen on Mars since NASA began exploring the cosmos.
What’s more, the meteoroid excavated boulder-size chunks of ice buried closer to the Martian equator than ever found before – a discovery with implications for NASA’s future plans to send astronauts to the Red Planet.
Scientists determined the quake resulted from a meteoroid impact when they looked at before-and-after images from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) and spotted a new, yawning crater. Offering a rare opportunity to see how a large impact shook the ground on Mars, the event and its effects are detailed in two papers published Thursday, Oct. 27, in the journal Science.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
#NASA #jpl #jetpropulsionlaboratory #marshallspaceflightcenter #msfc #mars #moontomars #planet #space #MarsReconnaissanceOrbiter #MRO #InSightLander