Extremely rare Mars meteorite being studied at ASU
Photographer: ABC15
Copyright 2012 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Posted: 02/14/2012
TEMPE, AZ - A Mars meteorite that formed about 300 million years ago just hit earth this past summer, but that’s not what makes it rare.
The 350-gram rock is one of only five Mars meteorites to have witnesses actually see it hit the earth.
Now, it is currently being studied at Arizona State University.
“For a few seconds, it might look like daylight when it falls through the atmosphere” said Professor Meenakshi Wadhwa of ASU’s Center for Meteorite Studies.
The rock is about the size of the baseball and is twenty times more valuable than gold.
The university hopes to learn about the history of Mars by studying the sample that is locked away in a room the college has dubbed “The Vault.”
Copyright 2012 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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