But what shook the scientists so much that NASA decided to hold a press conference on Thursday to highlight the discovery, which is detailed in two parts. leaves published In Science – is that the cratering effect was documented by two NASA spacecraft, orbiter and lander. It’s a great show for bringing together scientific resources, with one providing an overview of impact events while the other providing an ear.
The result is an extraordinary collection of data on the Martian interior, a topic of great interest to planetary scientists who want to understand why this rocky world that could have been hotter and wetter 4 billion years ago turned into a frozen desert without to be seen. sign of life.
It’s also a record-breaking event: the formation of the largest ever documented impact crater formation on an inner solar system rocky planet is documented in real time, according to Philippe Legnone, lead author of one of the newly published research papers.
The new crater is about 150 meters wide and about 21 deep, and was formed so violently that it launched boulders 40 kilometers (about 25 miles) from the impact, according to Lilia Pociolova, a senior scientist at Malin Space Science Systems. Two NASA cameras Mars reconnaissance vehicle.
Probes often see small impact results, leaving gains within a maximum diameter of a few meters. But what Busiulova scientists saw in February was by far the largest crater the spacecraft has ever discovered. In fact, it was so large that it almost went unnoticed.
“It’s a great, great feature. I’ve been trained to see small features. Your eyes look for imperfections, “Busiulova said.
The crater was visible on February 11, but scientists know they have more images of the Martian surface obtained every day and are going back in time to look for the crater when the crater first appeared.
Busiulova recalls that another spaceship on Mars, NASA InSight Landing VehicleA strong quake was observed on Christmas Eve, which had been parked on the surface for four years to monitor seismic activity. Suddenly everyone lined up. The first appearance of the crater in the orbiter images coincided with the seismic signals recorded by the surface instruments.
The seismic data can then be analyzed in the context of the distance to the impact. This helps improve existing models within Mars, Lugnona said.
Busiulova said the larger of the two craters could be the result of objects between 5 and 12 yards in diameter. You said such an object would likely burn in Earth’s atmosphere if it collided with our planet.
He said the origin of the meteorites was unknown, but it was possible that they came from the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
“This effect is huge. But we can continue to sleep peacefully on Earth, “said Lugnonier.” Our atmosphere protects us. “
