Ron makes a great point here. It follows that almost all meteorites on Mars should produce some kind of crater and most would be vaporized... Does anyone out there know what the terminal velocity ratio is for Mars?
CharlyV -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Ron Baalke Sent: Wednesday, January 07, 2004 4:39 PM To: Meteorite Mailing List Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Meteorites on Mars >1. Mars' thinner atmosphere means more >meteorites survive the fall though it >than on Earth. There are a number of factors to consider. Mars is smaller than Earth, so has less gravity to pull in meteoroids. However, Mars is closer to the asteroid belt, so is more likely to encounter meteoroids than Earth. The thinner atmosphere means it is more likely a meteorite will reach the surface, but it also means it is more likely to impact at hypervelocity speeds, and hypervelocity impacts tends to totally vaporize meteorites. Ron Baalke ______________________________________________ Meteorite-list mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list ______________________________________________ Meteorite-list mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
