A
meteor that broke into fragments before falling to Earth in Morocco was
a rare chunk of the planet Mars, scientist say. The meteor was seen as a
fireball over the African nation in July but the landing site was not
discovered until December by collectors who immediately suspected they
might be holding pieces of the Red Planet. Tests by international
experts have confirmed the fireball’s fall was just the fifth time in
history a meteor witnessed by people in the act of falling did, in fact,
come from Mars. Astronomers say they suspect something large collided
with Mars millions of years ago, hurtling rocks from the planet into
space where they have circled through the solar system until a piece
occasionally enters Earth’s atmosphere. The fragments of meteorite in
Morocco weigh a total of about 15 pounds, with some individual lumps
weighing more than 2 pounds.
