Many asteroids have a porous structure, which helps them absorb energy from collisions without being smashed to bits. This shows how planets might have formed, but could be bad news should an asteroid ever threaten Earth.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Rent or buy this article
Prices vary by article type
from$1.95
to$39.95
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Housen, K. R., Holsapple, K. A. & Voss, M. E. Nature 402, 155–156 (1999).
Asphaug, E. & Melosh, H. J. Icarus 101, 144–164 (1993).
Love, S. G., Hoerz, F. & Brownlee, D. E. Icarus 105, 216–224 (1993).
Asphaug, E., Ostro, S. J., Hudson, R. S., Scheeres, D. J. & Benz, W. Nature 393, 437–440 (1998).
Harris, A. W. Lunar Planet Sci. 27, 493–494 (1996).
Veverka, J. et al. Science 278, 2109–2112 (1997).
Rivkin, A. S., Clark, B. E., Britt, D. T. & Lebofsky, L. A. Icarus 127, 255–257 (1997).
Yeomans, D. K. et al. Science 278, 2106–2109 (1997).
Housen, K. R., Schmidt, B. R. & Holsapple, K. A. J. Geophys. Res. 88, 2485–2499 (1983).
Ostro, S. J. et al. Science 270, 80–83 (1999).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Asphaug, E. Survival of the weakest. Nature 402, 127–128 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/45935
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/45935