Scientists probe fresh Martian meteorite
Rock holds clues to Red Planet’s atmosphere and surface conditions
By Tanya Lewis
A meteorite that streaked to Earth in a blazing fireball over the Moroccan desert is one of the freshest samples of the Red Planet’s surface and atmosphere that scientists have ever seen.
Desert nomads recovered fragments of the Tissint meteorite, one of just five from Mars that have been seen during their descent, after it landed early in the morning of July 18, 2011. The space rock resembles a meteorite found in Antarctica in 1980 that was the first to show strong evidence of its Martian origin. But unlike other Martian meteorites that have sat on Earth’s surface for tens or hundreds of years before being discovered, Tissint hasn’t had much time to be altered by terrestrial influences.