NASA spacecraft records new, larger meteor strikes on Mars

Two NASA spacecraft recorded the biggest meteor strikes and impact craters on Mars than ever before.

One of the spacecraft is on the surface of Mars. The other is orbiting the planet.

Last year’s impacts produced seismic waves that traveled thousands of miles across Mars. These are the first seismic waves scientists have ever found near the surface of another planet. The impacts produced craters almost 150 meters wide, scientists reported Thursday in the journal Science.

The larger of the two strikes threw up large chunks of ice. This information could help researchers find ways for future astronauts to use the natural resources of Mars.

The Insight lander measured seismic waves, while the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter provided images of craters.

Liliya Posiolova of Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego is one of the study’s researchers. She said scientists were lucky to be able to match seismic waves with images of impact craters.

Mars’ atmosphere is thin. On Earth, the thick atmosphere prevents most space rocks from reaching the ground. Instead, rocks shatter and burn in the atmosphere.

InSight is nearing the end of its operation. Its electrical equipment is covered in dust from storms on Mars and failing. InSight landed on Mars in 2018 and has since recorded over 1,300 Marsquakes. A March tremor is similar to an earthquake.

Bruce Banerdt of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the lander’s chief scientist who was involved in the studies, estimated that the lander still had between four and eight weeks before the blackout.

The space rocks were between 5 meters and 12 meters wide, Posiolova said. The larger of the two struck last December about 3,500 kilometers from InSight, creating a crater about 21 meters deep. Orbiter cameras showed material thrown up to 40 kilometers from impact. They also showed white patches of ice around the crater, the most frozen water observed at such a low altitude. latitudesPosiolova said.

Posiolova found the crater earlier this year after taking additional photos of the area from orbit. The crater was missing in previous photos. After looking at older photos, the scientist dated the impact to late December. She also recalled a large seismic event recorded by InSight around that time. With the help of the Insight team, Posiolova connected the new hole to the strike.

Scientists also learned that the lander and orbiter both recorded an earlier meteoroid strike. It was more than double the distance of December’s and a bit smaller.

“Everyone was just shocked and surprised“recalls Posiolova.

Seismic readings from both impacts indicate a denser Martian soil layer beyond InSight’s location.

Doyeon Kim, from the Institute of Geophysics at ETH Zurich in Switzerland, was part of the research. He said scientists still have a lot to learn about the deep structure of Mars.

Outside scientists said future landers from Europe and China will carry even more advanced equipment to detect seismic waves.

I am Andrew Smith.

Marcia Dunn wrote this story for The Associated Press. Andrew Smith adapted it for VOA Learning English.

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words in this story

meteor –nm A piece of rock flying into a planet from space

impact –nm the sudden and often strong effect of something or the physical area where an object has hit another object

crater –nm a hole in the ground created by the impact of an object such as a meteor or a bomb

seismic –adj.. referring to the vibrations or shaking of a planet’s surface during events such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, or explosions

latitude –nm the distance of a place from the equator of a planet

astonish –v. to fill with sudden surprise, astonish

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