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The event that produced heat shield rock and its implications for the Martian atmosphere
Arctic Region Supercomputing Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA
Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA
Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA
Methods developed in previous work were used to estimate the mass, trajectory, and atmospheric conditions that produced Heat Shield Rock, the iron meteorite discovered on Mars by the Opportunity rover in January, 2005. We find that Heat Shield Rock encountered Mars at high speed and shallow entry angle, probably at a time when the planet possessed a thicker atmosphere. It entered the atmosphere with a mass of more than 60 kg, underwent significant ablation during atmospheric passage, and ricocheted across the surface upon impact. We conclude that Heat Shield Rock probably represents physical evidence that Mars once had a denser atmosphere.
Received 12 July 2006; accepted 6 September 2006; published 3 October 2006.
Citation: (2006), The event that produced heat shield rock and its implications for the Martian atmosphere, Geophys. Res. Lett., 33, L19201, doi:10.1029/2006GL027556.
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