Science
Where did Mercury get its water ice? Maybe from a single slow asteroid impact
Key Points
New simulations suggest a massive impact similar to the one that formed Hokusai crater (pictured) may have, in just one Mercurian day (176 Earth days), rapidly transported water across Mercury and trapped it in permanently shadowed polar craters.
New simulations suggest a massive impact similar to the one that formed Hokusai crater (pictured) may have, in just one Mercurian day (176 Earth days), rapidly transported water across Mercury and trapped it in permanently shadowed polar craters.