Mars got smacked!

[excavating_for_a_mind]

I haven’t seen a post on this, yet.

It appears that something smacked into the southern ice cap of Mars between July and September 2018.

Story here.

[Darren_Garrison]

Cool, but it happens a lot.

[ftg]

Mars got smacked!

Most have forgotten the safe word.

[TimeWinder]

@Darren_Garrison

Cool, but it happens a lot.

Aside: What’s up with science sites these days? The first one tries to load Flash (in 2019!), the second one pops up a dialog to send notifications, the third one tries to open a popup…

But yes, it looks like reasonably large hits happen at least once a year; as we add more satellites and robots to the population of Mars, I assume we’ll eventually catch one “live.” We’ve been finding more than we expected on the moon, too: (2016 article). Mars is, of course, closer to the asteroid belt, and Earth has its magnetic and atmospheric shield, but it still doesn’t inspire confidence that suck things can’t clobber us, too.

[Bookkeeper]

@TimeWinder

Aside: What’s up with science sites these days? The first one tries to load Flash (in 2019!), the second one pops up a dialog to send notifications, the third one tries to open a popup…

But yes, it looks like reasonably large hits happen at least once a year; as we add more satellites and robots to the population of Mars, I assume we’ll eventually catch one “live.” We’ve been finding more than we expected on the moon, too: (2016 article). Mars is, of course, closer to the asteroid belt, and Earth has its magnetic and atmospheric shield, but it still doesn’t inspire confidence that suck things can’t clobber us, too.

And here’s an impact caught as it happens on the moon.

[Darren_Garrison]

@TimeWinder

But yes, it looks like reasonably large hits happen at least once a year

Depends on what you mean by “reasonably large.” According to the first of those linked sites, there are around 200 new craters per year at least 12.8 feet in diameter.