Triple and Double Craters on Mars

By Nancy Atkinson - May 2, 2008 at 6:42 AM UTC | uncategorized
themis-mars-crater-3.jpg

Scientists working with the Mars Odyssey spacecraft say that it's not uncommon for multiple pieces of a meteor to impact Mars close together at the same time. Here, a triple crater was formed simultaneously when three pieces of a meteor struck Mars' surface together. When this happens, the craters that are formed overlap and the force of the impacts results in a linear wall separating the craters that form side-by-side. This image is part of a larger image swath taken by the THEMIS instrument (Thermal Emission Imaging System) on the Odyssey spacecraft. On another part of this larger image, there's also a double crater.

This double crater appears to be different, however, from the triple crater in that the two craters were likely formed at different times. The smaller crater to the left appears older, since material from when the second, larger crater to the right was formed has been thrown into the crater on the left. The crater on the left appears more eroded and weathered, as well.

Here's the entire image swath from Odyssey:

The Mars Odyssey spacecraft arrived at Mars on October 24, 2001, and has been mapping the surface of the Red Planet since February 2002.

Click

here

to see a map of Mars where these craters are located.

Original News Source:

THEMIS/Mars Odyssey webpage

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com