Sample Image of a Mars Meteorite
The EETA 79001 meteorite was found in Elephant Morraine in the Antarctic, and was the first meteorite found during the 1979-1980 collecting season. EETA 79001 is classified as a shergotite, the most common subgroup of the Mars meteorites. EETA 79001 weights 7,900 grams (17.4 pounds), and is the second largest Mars meteorite ever found - only the Zagami meteorite is larger. EETA 79001 is only 180 million years old - very young on the solar system scale - and was launched into space from Mars 600,000 years ago.
Los Angeles Meteorite Up For Auction On August 27
 by Ron Baalke
 Pasadena - August 25, 2000 - Two fragments of the Los Angeles meteorite will be up for auction at the Butterfields Auction on August 27 in Los Angeles. The fragments, weighing 4.539 grams and 1.011 grams respectively, will be in lots #1101 and #1102. The Los Angeles meteorite is only one of 15 known Mars meteorites.

The main mass of the Los Angeles meteorite (two rocks weighing 452.6 grams and 245.4 grams) was found by Bob Verish in the Mojave Desert in California about 20 years ago. Not knowing they were meteorites, the two rocks sat in a box in his backyard until last October when Bob was cleaning out the yard. Upon rediscovering the rocks, Bob suspected that they were meteorites, and took them to UCLA for confirmation. UCLA not only confirmed the two rocks as meteorites, but also identified them as Mars meteorites (shergottites).

The larger of the two rocks, Los Angeles 001 (LA001), was eventually sold to two meteorite dealers, Michael Casper and Darry Pitt. LA002 is currently on display at the Natural History Museum in Los Angeles. Darryl Pitt is now offering two pieces of the LA001 meteorite at the upcoming Butterfields auction.

  • The Los Angeles Meteorite
  • Darry Pitt's LA meteorite auction page:
    Butterfield Auction pages:
    http://www.butterfields.com/index2.html
    http://store.yahoo.com/butterfields/7154x-1101.html
    http://store.yahoo.com/butterfields/7154x-1102.html

    MARSDAILY.COM
     Mars Meteorite Points To Earth-like Oceans
     Tempe - June 22, 2000 - Thanks to NASA's unmanned planetary exploration program, evidence of the existence of past oceans on Mars has been accumulating for years, but no one had ever been able to say what the overall chemical composition of those oceans might actually have been like -- until now.

    SPACE.WIRE