NASA's InSight lander detected a magnitude 4 marsquake on December 24, 2021; however, scientists did not discover the origin of the quake until much later: a meteoroid impact considered to be one of the largest witnessed on Mars since NASA started exploring the universe. Furthermore, the meteoroid unearthed boulder-sized blocks of ice buried closer to the Martian equator than had ever been discovered previously, a finding that might affect NASA's plans to send people to Mars in the future.
The meteoroid was about 16–39 feet (5–12 metres) across, therefore it would have disintegrated in Earth's thick atmosphere but survive in Mars' thin atmosphere, which is only 1% as dense as Earth's. A crater 492 feet (150 metres) in diameter and 70 feet (21 metres) deep was created by the impact in a location known as Amazonis Planitia. Objects flung by the collision travelled up to 37 kilometres (23 miles) in one direction.
The craters were found with the use of NASA imaging technologies and seismometers, according to Associate Professor Katarina Miljkovic of Curtin's Space Science and Technology Centre and the School of Earth and Planetary Sciences.
PhD student Andrea Raji, who conducted the study at Curtin's Space Science and Technology Centre, says that the size of the meteorites means they penetrate deeper into the planet, triggering the only two earthquakes on Mars known to have been produced by meteorite impacts.
Crater formation rates must be determined so that Mars' geologic history may be more precisely pieced together. The crater density is higher on older surfaces like Mars and the Moon than it is on Earth because on our planet, older features are worn away by erosion and plate tectonics.
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Subsurface elements are also revealed when new craters form. High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) colour camera on MRO captured this image of massive ice pieces strewn around by the impact.
One of the impacts, according to Associate Professor Miljkovic, dug ice at the lowest height yet detected on Mars, and this might tell us more about the water ice reservoir under the Martian surface.
