Mars MYSTERY: NASA probes strange impact crater on red planet

Mars, with its distinctive rusty-red appearance, has long fascinated mankind. And interest in the Red Planet is only increasing, due to technological progress making a manned mission to Mars all the more likely. So astronomers are consequently taking a growing interest in Earth’s nearest neighbour – and NASA researchers have just discovered the amazing aftermath of a catastrophic meteorite impact.

The enormous meteorite impact was powerful enough to smash through the ice at Mars’ southern ice cap.

And remarkable imagery beamed back by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) shows the resulting debris spewed into an eye-catching pattern.

The photos taken from NASA’s High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera has revealed a unique “two tone” blast impact.

“The impact hit on the ice layer, and the tones of the blast pattern tell us the sequence,” explained HiRISE co-investigator Ross Beyer.

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“When an impactor hits the ground, there is a tremendous amount of force like an explosion.

The larger, lighter-coloured blast pattern could be the result of scouring by winds from the impact shockwave.”

It is believed the larger, lighter-coloured blast pattern is most likely the result of scouring by winds from the impact shockwave.

The incredibly detailed imagery of the fresh craters was taken from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter from a distance of hundreds of miles.

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Managed by the University of Arizona, the powerful HiRISE camera is one of six instruments on the MRO.

The NASA spacecraft has been circling the Red Planet since 2006.

A 2013 study revealed there are more than 200 asteroid impacts on Mars each year.

Asteroids and comet fragments are usually no larger than one to two metres across.

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This is approximately 10 times smaller than the meteor that exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia, in February 2013.

And the craters created by these asteroids are on average around four metres wide.

The 200-per-year space rock impact rate for Mars was calculated on a portion of the 248 new Martian craters identified in the past decade.

In November, NASA announced it has selected the location where its Mars 2020 Rover will land on the Red Planet.

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The rover is expected to reach the Martian surface on February 18, 2021.

NASA’s long-term goal is to send a manned mission to Mars in the 2030s.

However, former astronaut Buzz Aldrin thinks a later target date of 2040 is more realistic.

In an interview in 2016, the Gemini 12 and Apollo 11 astronaut said that by 2040, astronauts could visit Mars’ moon Phobos, which would serve as a stepping stone to the Red Planet.

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source: express.co.uk