The US space agency revealed an unusually strong earthquake on Mars in early May. But what could be behind this phenomenon?
New record
He felt an unusually strong tremor On Mars is a US space agency’s probe called InSight that landed on the surface of the red planet in November 2018. NASA said the earthquake now detected had a magnitude of 5, so it’s clearly a new record. The strongest earthquakes so far were measured in August 2021, and were “only” 4.1-4.2. The HVG.hu He adds that the current discovery occurred at a crucial moment, as more and more dust is being deposited on InSight’s solar cells, which will eventually make it impossible for a NASA probe to recharge its batteries. This also means that the time is approaching when the probe will become inoperable.
Incidentally, the InSight mission recorded the strongest earthquake to date on March 4, 2022, March 12, 2022. A total of 1,313 such events were detected by the spacecraft, but the vast majority were immeasurably weaker than they are now.
What can cause it?
No specific details are yet known about the newly discovered earthquakes, nor has NASA said in which region of the planet the events may have occurred. According to the researchers, such phenomena are caused by the cooling of Mars, which makes the crust of the Red Planet more brittle and cracking at the same time.
NASA reminds us that the recent earthquake of magnitude 5 is still much weaker than we are used to seeing on Earth, but they add that it is closer to what is certainly expected from scientists on our neighboring planet.
Photo: 123rf
Many astronauts expressed their opinions on this topic based on their own experience.
Main image: 123rf
