Mars just got a little more mysterious—and lumpy! 🌌 NASA’s retired InSight lander has uncovered evidence of ancient asteroid impacts that left giant chunks of rocky material scattered deep within the Red Planet’s mantle, according to a groundbreaking study published in Science.
Using seismic data from 1,319 marsquakes recorded between 2018 and 2022, scientists detected fragments up to 4 kilometers wide lingering beneath Mars’ surface. These ‘lumps’ date back 4.5 billion years, when massive collisions melted parts of the planet’s crust and mantle into magma oceans. 💥🔥
“It’s like finding dinosaur bones in your backyard,” said lead researcher Constantinos Charalambous of Imperial College London. “Mars’ mantle evolved slowly, preserving these relics. On Earth, plate tectonics would’ve erased them long ago.”
The findings suggest Mars’ interior has been surprisingly stagnant compared to Earth’s dynamic geology. NASA’s InSight—the first mission to place a seismometer on another planet—has essentially given scientists an X-ray vision of Mars’ guts. 🚀🔬
What’s next? Researchers say these lumps could help explain why Mars lost its magnetic field and water—and how rocky planets like ours evolve. Talk about a cosmic glow-up! ✨
