REMEMBER WHEN

Mars Weather Was Better With Asteroids

The Red Planet may have actually been more habitable when asteroids were pummeling it.

Earth’s climate may be messed up these days, but at least no one is nostalgic for asteroid showers.

The climate on Mars, on the other hand, may have actually been more hospitable to life when the planet was being bombarded with giant rocks, scientists say.

That’s because the impacts of those asteroids produced enough heat and pressure for the planet to start producing water, according to a new study from the University of Colorado. And where there’s water—at least some of the time—there can be life.

Not that this means anything for Mars today. The period when asteroids were bombing the red planet on a regular basis was about 4 billion years ago. So whatever Martian microbes may have enjoyed the rocky weather are long gone by now.

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Nathan Place

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