Why is Mars Lopsided?
Three teams of scientists are reporting results of studies based on Steve Squyres’ and Don Wilhelms’ (of the USGS) theory of a giant impact on Mars having caused its unusual shape. The lopsided shape of Mars may well be a result of a cataclysmic impact of a Pluto-size meteor billions of years ago, three teams of scientists are reporting. That would suggest that the lowlands of Mars’s northern hemisphere are a single gigantic impact crater, the largest crater in the solar system. Dr. Squyres said the new findings did not prove that his idea was right, but “they’ve really gone and made some new observations, which make a strong case that the idea really makes sense.” – New York Times “We haven’t proved the giant-impact hypothesis, but I think we’ve shifted the tide,” said Jeffrey Andrews-Hanna, a postdoctoral researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge. Andrews-Hanna and co-authors Maria Zuber of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Bruce Banerdt of NAS
