Mars, Venus, and Earth Are Much Less Heavily Cratered Than

Mars, Venus, and Earth are much less heavily cratered than Mercury and the Moon.This is explained by the fact that

A) the rate of cratering in the early Solar System was strongly dependent on location.
B) Mars, Venus, and Earth have thicker atmospheres.
C) Earth and Venus were shielded from impacts by the Moon, and Mars was protected by the asteroid belt.
D) Mars, Venus, and Earth were geologically active for a longer period of time than Mercury and the Moon.
E) Mars, Venus, and Earth are much larger in size than Mercury and the Moon.