Meteorites Found on Mars

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Meteorites Found on Mars
One iron and four possible other pieces of
asteroids have been identified since 2005 by the
Mars Exploration Rovers. The rock shown here is
classified as a IAB complex iron meteorite based
on mineralogy and chemical composition.
Dewar area
Longest dimension is 31 centimeters.
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Meteorites Found on Mars
Dewar area
Barberton (3 centimeters long) is olivine-rich
and contains metallic iron. Cosmochemists say it
is most consistent chemically with a mesosiderite
type of stony-iron meteorite. Santa Catarina (14
centimeters long) is similar to Barberton.
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Meteorites Found on Mars
Dewar area
The thermal infrared characteristics shown in the
Mini-TES spectra are similar for the known iron
meteorite (Meridiani Planum) and two rocks in
Gusev Crater (labeled Zhong Shan and Allan
Hills). The spectrum for a Martian basaltic rock
(labeled Dome Fuji) is distinctly different and
shown for comparison.