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On Christmas Eve 2021, the InSight probe was able to monitor the impact of a meteorite on the surface of Mars, causing tremors of four degrees. In total, “Insight” has monitored more than 1,300 “Martian earthquakes”, including those originating from the impact of smaller meteorites, and scientists around the world will benefit from the data collected over several years.
It was a Christmas Eve gift for the scientists who watched Mars… On December 24, 2021, a meteor crashed on the surface of the Red Planet, causing tremors of magnitude four.
It was possible to monitor these tremors directly from the “Insight” probe located at the space site.
These tremors were detected by the seismometer of the “InSight” spacecraft, which landed on the surface of Mars about four years ago, about 3,500 km from the impact site.
But the origin of this Martian earthquake was only known later, thanks to the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (or MRO) spacecraft, which was in the planet’s orbit and photographed the newly formed crater within 24 hours of impact.
This extraordinary image showed masses of ice that the impact led to scattered on the surface, and it appeared that a hole about 150 meters in diameter and 20 meters deep, which is the largest hole observed by the “MRO” orbiter. never entered service 16 years ago.
“We never expected to see anything of this magnitude,” Ingrid Dubart, who is in charge of the “Insight” and “MRO” missions, said Thursday at a press conference, although meteorites hitting Mars are common and not rare.
The researchers estimated the size of the meteorite itself to be around 12 meters, which would have led to its disintegration while still in the atmosphere if it had made its way to planet Earth.
“Quite simply, the largest impact of a meteor on the surface that I could hear from the scientific use of seismographs,” explained Philippe Leuninet, professor of planetary sciences who participated in two studies on the results of monitoring this impact, published Thursday in the “Science” magazine.
And the US space agency (NASA) broadcast an audio recording of the earthquake that was prepared by accelerating the vibrations collected by the seismometer, with the aim of making them audible.
“useful” ice.
The valuable information provided by this impact should allow for a better understanding of the Martian interior and the history of the planet’s formation.
Ingrid Dubar, who participated in the preparation of the two studies, noted that the presence of ice in particular is “surprising”, explaining that “the site where the ice was observed is the hottest on Mars, and is the closest at the equator “.
In addition to the scientific contribution of this discovery to the study of the Martian climate, the presence of water at this site could be “very useful” for future explorers, according to NASA director of planetary sciences Laurie Glaes.
“We would like to land astronauts as close to the equator as possible,” he said, due to the high temperatures, and the ice at the site can then be converted into water or oxygen.
The force of the meteorite impact was sufficient to simultaneously generate large waves (reaching the planet’s core) and surface waves (horizontally traversing the planet’s crust), which allowed for a detailed study of the internal structure of Mars.
It turns out that the crust on which the “InSight” probe is stationed is less dense than the crust that was traversed by the impact site.
Philippe Legnonier of the Institute of Geophysics in Paris considered it possible, in the light of these data, also to “re-analyze” the existing models relating to the “deep structure of the Martian mantle”, as explained by Philippe Lugnoni.
The performance of the InSight probe is currently slow, as expected, due to the dust accumulating on its solar panels.
Bruce Banerdt of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory said Thursday that contact with him is likely to be lost within “about four to eight weeks,” expressing his sadness, although he is pleased with the mission’s success.
In total, “Insight” has monitored more than 1,300 “Martian earthquakes”, including those originating from the impact of smaller meteorites, and scientists around the world will benefit from the data collected over several years.
FRANCE 24 / AFP
