124. Hearing Mars Meteoroid Impacts, 3D Printing Swarm Drones, 3D Printing Wooden Objects

Show Notes: <p><a href='https://earthsky.org/space/insight-hears-meteoroid-impacts-mars-nasa/'>InSight hears meteoroid impacts on Mars</a> | EarthSky (01:15)</p> <ul><li style="font-weight:400;"> <p>Since 2018, NASA’s InSight lander has been busy studying the interior of Mars detecting  over 1,300 marsquakes</p> </li> <li style="font-weight:400;"> <p>NASA announced on September 19, 2022, that, for the first time, InSight has heard the impacts of four meteoroids as they crashed into the Martian surface.</p> <ul><li style="font-weight:400;"> <p>Detected the vibrations from the impacts in 2020 and 2021.</p> </li> <li style="font-weight:400;"> <p>The impacts produced small marsquakes, up to a magnitude of 2.0. </p> </li> </ul> </li> <li style="font-weight:400;"> <p>This is the first time that InSight – or any Mars lander or rover – has ever detected the seismic waves from a meteoroid impact.</p> </li> <li style="font-weight:400;"> <p>The four impacts occurred between 53 and 180 miles from InSight’s location in <a href='https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/jpl/pia22232/insight-s-landing-site-elysium-planitia/'>Elysium Planitia</a>. </p> <ul><li style="font-weight:400;"> <p>Elysium Planitia, a flat-smooth plain just north of the equator making it a great location to study the Martian interior. </p> </li> </ul> </li> <li style="font-weight:400;"> <p>NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter took images of the impact sites from orbit. </p> <ul><li style="font-weight:400;"> <p>Appeared as dark spots in the orbiter’s black-and-white Context Camera. </p> </li> </ul> </li> <li style="font-weight:400;"> <p>The seismic waves generated by the impacts can give scientists clues about both the impacting rocks and the Martian subsurface.</p> </li> <li style="font-weight:400;"> <p>Additionally, scientists can use impact craters to determine the age of the surface.</p> <ul><li style="font-weight:400;"> <p>More craters = Older the surface is</p> </li> </ul> </li> <li style="font-weight:400;"> <p>By using both InSight’s data and orbital images