Two different Mars missions recorded a huge meteorite strike in the solar system. Scientists are using the impact to understand more about the interior of the planet.
The magnitude 4 marsquake which was detected by the NASA InSight lander was caused by the strike on December 24, 2021. Researchers realized that the earthquakes were caused by a large impact when they saw an enormous crater that appeared at the same time as the others.
There is a flyover of Mars impact.
It is unprecedented to find a fresh impact of this size, according to the statement. It is an exciting moment in geologic history and we have to watch it.
A crater that is almost 500 feet wide and 70 feet deep was created when a meteorite hit the planet. The material that traveled as far as 23 miles from the crater was exposed as it struck the planet.
The image of the impact was unlike any I had seen before, with the huge crater, exposed ice, and dramatic blast zone preserved in the Mars dust. I imagined what it would have been like to see the impact, the atmospheric blast, and the debris that flew downrange.
The impact caused waves to travel through the planet's interior. Researchers who want to understand more about the structure of the planet's crust can benefit from observing these surface waves.
The lead author of one of the papers said that the knowledge of the Martian crust has been based on a single point measurement.
The researchers were able to see that the area between the lander and the impact site has a higher density than previously thought. It's possible that there are different rock types on the surface or that the rocks beneath the landers were created by a different process.
There are two papers in the journal.
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