Explosion on Mars leads NASA to new discovery

February 6, 2014 News Desk Local News, Science & Tech 0

NASA has just released new photographs from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) that show a new crater on the Martian surface.

The photograph was taken on Nov. 19, 2013 by  the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on-board the MRO.

Scarring the surface

Approximately 200 meteorites hit the Martian surface every year. Each of these impacts creates a new crater, some larger than others.

The new crater is estimated by NASA to be about 30m (100ft) in diameter and is surrounded by a blast zone of debris. The impact sent debris flying as far as 15 kilometres (over nine miles) away.

The first image of the new crater captured by NASA's HiRISE camera on-board the MRO. The centre of the crater is about 30m in diameter. Image courtesy of NASA.
The first image of the new crater captured by NASA’s HiRISE camera on-board the MRO. The centre of the crater is about 30m in diameter. Image courtesy of NASA.

This meteorite that caused the crater hit between July, 2010 and May, 2012. The low resolution images taken of the area by the MRO allowed NASA to determine this time-frame.

In Nov., 2013 researchers used the higher quality HiRISE camera to capture the new image.

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