NASA's MRO images yawning new Mars impact crater surrounded by water ice | Watch video

The High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE camera) aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) imaged this impact crater formed by a meteoroid strike in the Amazonis Planitia region of Mars on December 24, 2021.

As viewed by HiRISE from space, boulder-size blocks of water ice can be seen around the rim of the Martian impact crater.

"Buried ice has never been spotted this close to the Martian equator, which, as the warmest part of Mars, is an appealing location for astronauts," NASA said in a statement.

Felt that one! When a giant meteoroid struck Mars, the seismometer aboard our @NASAInSight lander sensed it – and our Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has the visual evidence. See more about how the robotic explorers teamed up to capture the moment: https://t.co/mC5tAGHysw pic.twitter.com/seJgV9PTDj

— NASA Mars (@NASAMars) October 27, 2022

In late December 2021, NASA's InSight Mars lander sensed a large marsquake (magnitude 4), but scientists learned only later that it was caused by a meteoroid strike - estimated to be one of the biggest seen on Mars since the agency began exploring the cosmos.

The meteoroid is estimated to have spanned 16 to 39 feet (5 to 12 meters) – small enough that it would have burned up in Earth's atmosphere, but not in Mars’ thin atmosphere, and the new crater formed by the strike is believed to be one of the largest craters ever witnessed forming any place in the solar system.

The impact crater was first spotted on February 11, 2022, by scientists working at Malin Space Science Systems (MSSS), which built and operates two cameras aboard MRO.

"It's unprecedented to find a fresh impact of this size. It's an exciting moment in geologic history, and we got to witness it," said Ingrid Daubar of Brown University, who leads InSight's Impact Science Working Group.

This animation, created using data from the HiRISE camera, shows a flyover of a meteoroid impact crater on Mars that’s surrounded by boulder-size chunks of ice. 

NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona