Keith Cooper is a freelance science journalist and editor in the United Kingdom, and has a degree in physics and astrophysics from the University of Manchester.
This mosaic is made up of more than 100 images captured by NASA's Viking 1 orbiter, which operated around Mars from 1976 to 1980. The scar across the center of the planet is the vast Valles Marineris canyon system.Meteorite impacts pepper Mars at a rate up to 10 times more frequent than previous estimates, according to two new research papers that identified the seismic shock waves of these impacts detected by NASA's now-defunct Mars InSight lander.
"This size impact, we would expect to happen maybe once every couple of decades, maybe even once in a lifetime, but here we have two of them that are just over 90 days apart," Ingrid Dauber of Brown University, who led one of the studies, said in aBoth studies utilized the seismometer instrument, SEIS, on InSight to detect the impacts. InSight recorded seismic data for four years, during which time SEIS was.
Planetary surfaces don't come with a receipt saying how long ago they formed, or when they were last covered by lava. Instead, scientists must calculate surface ages based on how many craters cover those surfaces; the more craters there are, the older the surface must be. We can see a classic example of this on.
"By using seismic data to better understand how often meteorites hit Mars and how these impacts change its surface, we can start piecing together a timeline of the Red Planet's geological history and evolution," said Wojcicka in a."You could think of it as a sort of 'cosmic clock' to help us date Martian surfaces and, maybe further down the line, other planets in the solar system.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
NASA's Perseverance Mars rover enters new Red Planet territory: 'Bright Angel'Rahul Rao is a graduate of New York University's SHERP and a freelance science writer, regularly covering physics, space, and infrastructure. His work has appeared in Gizmodo, Popular Science, Inverse, IEEE Spectrum, and Continuum. He enjoys riding trains for fun, and he has seen every surviving episode of Doctor Who.
Read more »
NASA rover discovers mysterious light-toned boulder 'never observed before' on MarsNASA's Perseverance rover discovered a mysterious boulder that stood out in a field of rocks while exploring a crater on Mars.
Read more »
Radiation Surge on Mars: NASA Watches Red Planet Light Up During Epic Solar StormScience, Space and Technology News 2024
Read more »
NASA Has Drawn Another Giant Schlong on the Surface of MarsScience and Technology News and Videos
Read more »
NASA Rover Discovers Strange Stones, Never Before Seen on MarsScience and Technology News and Videos
Read more »
Why scientists are intrigued by air in NASA's Mars sample tubesAtmospheric scientists get a little more excited with every rock core NASA's Perseverance Mars rover seals in its titanium sample tubes, which are being gathered for eventual delivery to Earth as part of the Mars Sample Return campaign. Twenty-four have been taken so far.
Read more »