From: dietz@dls.net   
      
   Gary Helfert wrote:   
   > Is gravity so strong that a meteor swinging by the earth, moon or planet at   
   > 25,000 miles per hour on a tangent trajectory is pulled in for a direct   
   > impact? Viewing pictures of planets I don't think I ever saw an oblong   
   > meteor crater that would come from a glancing blow.   
   >   
      
   Actually, what happens is that the impact speed is so high that the   
   impactor vaporizes.  The explosion excavates the crater, which is many   
   times larger than the size of the impactor.  Only at very shallow   
   impact angles does the crater become substantially asymmetrical.   
      
   	Paul   
      
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