Mars Rock Found In Antarctica

lousyd writes "Scientists with with ANSMET, the Antarctic Search for Meteorites, have found a meteorite in the Antarctic that apparently has come from Mars. Weighing in at 715.2 grams, the find has been confirmed by the National Museum of Natural History. The rock is a member of the 'nakhlite' set, and has been named MIL 03346. By having the real thing before them, this offers Mars researchers a reality check on the data coming back from the various probes currently on Mars."

I'm curious...

[GedConk]

How can they be sure that it comes from Mars and not from an asteroid/comet/moon/whatever ?

Extraterrestrial Rocks

[anim8]

The cool thing about Antarctica (no pun intended) is that if you see any rocks sitting on top of the ice they most likely came from outer space.

I've heard that you are most likely to find them near the bases of mountain ranges where the swirling winds scours away the ice and snow better, revealing alien rocks and pebbles that have been covered for millenia.

I'd guess there are tons of Martian rocks under the ice, perhaps some from Venus, lots of moon rocks ... and many more run-of-the-mill meteorites.

Venus rocks not likely

[missing000]

Remember folks, launching stuff into a much higher orbit requires lots of energy.

The reason Mars rocks get here is because they are intercepted on their way to the sun.

Re:I'm curious...

[b-baggins]

Why should the Oxygen isotopes be different in different parts of the solar system? Didn't we supposedly all coalesce out of the same cloud of stuff?