Space rock slams into Mars and explodes

A space rock slammed into the red desert just over a year ago.

The footage of the new impact craters was released by NASA. The space agency was able to detect "marsquakes" from up to 180 miles away because of the collision.

After three years of waiting, the craters looked beautiful, according to a NASA statement.

There are at least three fresh craters in the ground after a meteorite exploded in the atmosphere of Mars. The explosion and impacts were detected by the InSight landers. Despite being out of power, InSight still makes meaningful extraterrestrial observations.

NASA sent a satellite to look for dark patches on the desert floor after detecting the booms. Dust and soil are new to the area. Adding unnatural blue colors makes impact details more apparent.

There are a few impact craters that have been detected and imaged by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

Relatively fresh impact craters on Mars created in 2020 and 2021. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / University of Arizona

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It's a story of crashes in space. In our solar system, they happen frequently. asteroids can impact other objects around the sun.

Our solar system is less chaotic than it was billions of years ago. The moon's surface isn't recycled like Earth's and it leaves poignant evidence of the impact on our solar system.

NASA and its partners are keeping a close eye on the skies in the coming years. There isn't anything threatening on the horizon. It was previously reported as such.

"Fortunately, no known asteroid over 460 feet across will threaten Earth in the next century or so. The chances of a major impact in our lifetimes is, as far as we know, extremely small, astronomers say. To illustrate, impacts by objects around 460 feet in diameter occur every 10,000 to 20,000 years, and a "dinosaur-killing" impact from a rock perhaps a half-mile across or larger happens on 100-million-year timescales."

Astronomers hope to know if a large space rock is heading our way in the future.

The director of the Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona said that you need to know what's coming when it's coming.