Meteorite impacts pepper Mars at a rate up to 10 times more frequent than previous estimates, according to two new research papers that identified the seismic shock waves of these impacts detected by NASA's now-defunct Mars InSight lander.
The new rate is staggering. According to the findings, between 180 and 260 impacts per year occur on the Red Planet, and these objects can get at least as large as basketballs, procuring eight-meter (26-foot) craters in the ground. In all, the impact rate is between two and 10 times higher than predicted, depending upon the size of the impactor. And some of the new impacts detected by InSight were big: For example, one of the studies reports two large impacts, which happened 97 days apart, that were significant enough to each excavate a crater the size of a football field.
