Space Topics: Mars Global Surveyor
The Year in Pictures: 2006
Mars Global Surveyor Finds 20 New Craters
Fresh crater in Arabia Terra, Mars
This is one of the fresh craters discovered on Mars through repeated observations by the Mars Orbiter Camera. Rays and bands of dark material formed around the crater as a result of the expanding shock wave of the impact. Chains of dark spots are secondary impact craters formed by sprays of ejecta blocks thrown out of the impact crater.
Credit: NASA / JPL / MSSS
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"Twelve craters per year form across the surface of Mars. If you
were to live on Mars for about 20 years, you would live close enough to one
of these events to hear it." -- Mike Malin, Mars Global Surveyor
MOC Principal Investigator
December 6. As a result of a systematic survey, the Mars
Orbiter Camera team found a total of 20 new craters in images covering
the 30 percent of Mars that they were able to photograph twice. Two
of the areas were even imaged twice by the highest-resolution camera, permitting
detailed analysis of how the surface had been changed by the asteroid impact. This
crater, in Arabia Terra, is surrounded by rays and bands of dark material
that were deposited as a result of the expanding shock wave of the impact. Chains
of dark spots are secondary impact craters formed by sprays of ejecta blocks
thrown out of the impact crater. The new craters are not just a curiosity
-- they yield important clues for understanding the space environments of
both Mars and Earth, the impact hazard to future Mars astronauts, and the
cratering rate experienced by recently deposited materials on Mars.
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