Mars is a punching bag for asteroids, NASA data shows

Meteorite impacts on Mars are up to 10 times more common than previously estimated, according to two new research papers. These describe the seismic shock waves from these impacts, which were detected by NASA’s now defunct Mars InSight lander.

The new rate is staggering. The findings suggest that between 180 and 260 impacts occur on the Red Planet each year, and these objects can be at least as large as basketballs, leaving eight-meter (26-foot) craters in the ground. Overall, the impact rate is two to 10 times higher than predicted, depending on the size of the impact. And some of the new impacts detected by InSight were large: One study, for example, reported two large impacts, occurring 97 days apart, that were significant enough to each carve out a crater the size of a football field.

Leave a Comment