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Mars

Scientists have confirmed that meteorites that fell to Earth during a meteor shower in July of 2011 came from Mars. The rocks, discovered in Morocco, were likely the result of an ancient asteroid impact with the planet.

This is believed to be the fifth time that people have found and chemically confirmed Martian material falling to Earth. Out of the approximately 24,000 meteorites that have fallen to Earth, only about 34 have been verified to have come from Mars. Fifteen of these rocks are from the meteorite shower in July 2011. Some of the rocks, which are very rare on Earth, are being sold for between $11,000 to $22,500 per ounce, which is about ten times more expensive than the cost of gold.

Scientists have confirmed that meteorites from Mars fell to Earth in 1815, 1865, 1911 and 1962 and 2011. The sooner the meteorites are recovered after landing on Earth, the less likely they will be contaminated by the Earth's natural processes. This allows scientists to examine the specimens and gain insight about the geology of Mars. "Because it's so fresh, if you find organics in this sample, you can be pretty sure those organics are Martian," says Carl Agee, director of the Institute of Meteoritics at the University of New Mexico.

Tags: 2011, Carl Agee, Earth, Institute of Meteoritics, Mars, Meteorites, Morocco, New Mexico, University of New Mexico