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Curiosity finds metallic meteorite on Mars


UM-Bot

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Interesting that it's now on the surface, after being buried deep in the ground on impact. I wonder how many years it took for wind erosion to uncover it.

 

 

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This will surely result in the manned exploration of Mars. Meteorite hunter will go anywhere to search a debris field.

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Looked at the slightly clearer photo on the link site.

Wow, the pic is awesome.

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Don't know if this is any sharper.

1577MR0080320000800289E01_DXXX.jpg

Edited by pallidin
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I know, I know... "There's a fossilized alligator, upper-left"

:o

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Am I the only one who sees all that sand?

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Looks like a chunk of melted aluminum to me. I wonder why that sandy clay looks so mineral rich? Perhaps left over from volcanic activity in the past?

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This is interesting because I have noted the fact in my book and video that there are meteor craters all over the moon, and like Meteor Crater in Arizona, there should be meteorites all over the place. But none have been found. Now we know there are meteorites on Mars, then there must be some on the moon. Maybe we need a robot rover on the moon. At least it solves the mystery. Apparently we have not studied the moon well enough. The advantage of meteorites on the moon is they have not been weathered like those on the earth. 

Edited by Auldaney
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59 minutes ago, Auldaney said:

 Apparently we have not studied the moon well enough.

It seems to me that there are two factors you are not taking into account.

The first factor is the different surface colours of Mars and the moon. A meteorite on the surface of Mars stands out like a sore thumb against the red of Mars. Against the dark grey of the moon a meteorite will not be so obvious. Because meteorites can be spotted reasonably easily NASA can send the Curiosity rover to inspect them. If Curiosity was on the moon it would probably miss a meteorite of the same size in less it fortuitously passed close to it.

The second factor that needs to be considered is the role of the atmosphere. A small meteor approaching the moon at 50,000 mph will impact the moon at 50.000 mph. On impact much of the meteorite will be vaporised. Many of the surviving fragments will be buried deep within the impact crater.

The same small meteor approaching Mars (or the Earth) will encounter the atmosphere. Assuming that the meteoroid is large enough not to burn up (but sufficiently small) it will decelerate rapidly as it enters the atmosphere. It will hit the ground at considerably lower velocity than it would the airless moon (frequently meteorites hit the ground at terminal velocity). Larger objects (such as the one that entered over Chelyabinsk) will explode in the atmosphere. Again, the small fragments which survive the explosion will hit the ground at a far lower velocity than that with which it entered the atmosphere. Only the very largest objects will impact the ground at full velocity, unimpeded by deceleration due to atmosphere.

These two factors mean that we should expect there to me more meteorites sitting on the surface of Mars than the moon and they will be easier to find when they are on the surface.

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