Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. 24/7 Space News .




DEEP IMPACT
Meteorite from Mars fell in Morocco: scientists
by Staff Writers
Washington (AFP) Jan 18, 2012


Rare and expensive fragments of a Mars meteorite fell from the sky in July over Morocco, a team of international scientists confirmed on Wednesday.

A fireball in the sky was observed in a remote region of southern Morocco by nomads who tracked down fragments of the seven kilogram (15 pound) meteorite, marking only the fifth time in history that a Mars rock has been seen falling to Earth.

A team of eight experts with the Meteoritical Society analyzed the pieces and determined that they are authentic chunks of the red planet, said Carl Agee, part of the team and curator at the University of New Mexico.

"This discovery is tremendously important because of the quality of the sample," Agee told AFP.

The Moroccans who found the fragments quickly sold them to dealers, and museums scrambled to purchase them at a range of $500 to $1,000 dollars per gram, said Agee, whose museum now possesses a 108 gram piece.

The price for meteorites ranges from 10 to 20 times the price of gold.

"Some of these meteorites have atmospheric gas trapped inside glassy material. When they are heated and released in the laboratory and measured it's identical to the Mars atmosphere that all the Mars probes have measured," said Agee.

"All planets, like Venus, Mars and Earth, they have very different atmospheres," he added. "It's like a fingerprint."

The meteorite was named Tissint, and its discovery was documented in the Meteoritical Society's latest bulletin issued January 17.

"At about 2:00 am local time on July 18, 2011, a bright fireball was observed by several people in the region of the Oued Draa valley, east of Tata, Morocco," it said.

"One eyewitness, Mr Aznid Lhou, reported that it was at first yellow in color, and then turned green illuminating all the area before it appeared to split into two parts. Two sonic booms were heard over the valley."

By October, "nomads began to find very fresh, fusion-crusted stones in a remote area" about 50 kilometers (30 miles) east-southeast of Tata.

Agee said such Mars meteorite events only happen about once every 50 years, with the last such event in 1962 in Nigeria. Of about 100 Mars meteorites currently in Earth collections, only five have been seen to fall.

The first known meteorite from Mars was found in France in 1815, a specimen called Chassigny that Agee described as "probably one of the most expensive meteorites in the world."

Pieces of Mars are believed to have broken loose at some time in history when a massive meteor crashed into the surface of the red planet, sending chunks hurtling through space.

Some of the debris has moved fast enough to escape the gravitational pull of Mars and eventually fall to Earth.

Agee said scientists will examine the Moroccan meteorite for radioactive signatures left by cosmic rays, signaling how long its journey has been, possibly thousands or millions of years.

.


Related Links
Asteroid and Comet Impact Danger To Earth - News and Science






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








DEEP IMPACT
Strange crystals said from outer space
Princeton, N.J. (UPI) Jan 3, 2012
It turns out unusual crystals found in Russia weren't formed on Earth, researchers say, but rather came from outer space. The so-called quasicrystals, with an unusual structure somewhere between crystals and glass, had only been previously created in laboratories before they were discovered in Russia's Koryak Mountains in 2009, the BBC reported Tuesday. Now a team of researchers ... read more


DEEP IMPACT
Russia talks of permanent moon base

Montana Students Pick Winning Names for Moon Craft

Students rename NASA moon probes Ebb and Flow

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter's LAMP reveals lunar surface features

DEEP IMPACT
'Flaws' blamed for Russian space failure

Lost in simulated space on the way to Mars

US may be behind Mars probe failure: Russia

Opportunity Targets Amboy Rock For Extra Study Ahead of Winter

DEEP IMPACT
US joins effort to draw up space 'code of conduct'

Voyager Instrument Cooling After Heater Turned off

The gadgets which stood out at CES

Smart appliances set to transform the home

DEEP IMPACT
Shenzhou 9 Behind the Curtain

China Plans to Launch 30 Satellites in 2012

China launches Ziyuan III satellite

Spying on Tiangong

DEEP IMPACT
ISS Team Undertakes 'EPIC' Event

Photographing the International Space Station from Your Own Backyard

New crew arrives at international space station

NASA 'Smart SPHERES' Tested on ISS

DEEP IMPACT
SpaceX delays February flight to space stationl

Canaveral has busy 2012 launch schedule

China to launch Bolivian satellite in 2013: Chinese Ambassador

Ariane 5, Soyuz, Vega: Three world-changing launch vehicles

DEEP IMPACT
Re-thinking an Alien World

Scientists Discover a Saturn-like Ring System Eclipsing a Sun-like Star

Planets around stars are the rule rather than the exception

Milky Way teaming with 'billions' of planets: study

DEEP IMPACT
Apple unveils digital textbooks app for iPad

Neutron scattering provides window into surface interactions

Russian Scientists Mock U.S. Radar Theory on Mars Probe

Russia to Test if US Radar Caused Failed Space Probe




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement