Question

Several meteorites found in antarctica are believed to have come from mars, including the famous alh84001 meteorite that some believe contains fossils of ancient life on mars. meteorites from mars are thought to get to earth by being blasted off the martian surface when a large object (such as an asteroid or a comet) crashes into the planet. What speed must a rock have to escape mars?

Answer 1

Rocks can escape Mars when they are blasted off its surface due to large impacts from objects like asteroids or comets. The escape speed required to leave Mars is approximately 5.03 km/s (kilometers per second).

Step-by-step explanation:

Rocks can escape Mars when they are blasted off its surface due to large impacts from objects like asteroids or comets. The escape speed required to leave Mars depends on its surface gravity, which is only 38% of that on Earth. To calculate the escape speed, we can use the formula: speed = √(2 * gravity * height), where gravity is the acceleration due to gravity on Mars and height is the distance above the surface. The escape speed for Mars is approximately 5.03 km/s (kilometers per second).