Tag Archives: asteroid belt

Asteroid impacts+hydrogen = recipe for Mars life

A new study reveals asteroid impacts on ancient Mars could have produced key ingredients for life if the Martian atmosphere was rich in hydrogen. An early hydrogen-rich atmosphere on Mars could also explain how the planet remained habitable after its … Continue reading

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How often does Mars get whacked?

Or — to pose this question more usefully — what’s the rate of crater-making impacts on Mars as compared to, say, the Moon? Why the Moon? Because it’s the one extraterrestrial body for which scientists have both a long visible … Continue reading

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Why is Mars so small?

Because it was starved during infancy, says Kevin Walsh (Observatoire de la Cote d’Azur and Southwest Research Institute, Boulder). In a paper in Nature, written with four colleagues and published June 5, 2011, he argues that when the planets were … Continue reading

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