Space Exploration

Do We Have Pieces Of Mars On Earth?

Mars-Pieces
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Yes, we do have pieces of Mars on Earth. As bizarre as it may sound, it is actually true!

We often believe that since the planets are so far apart, they don’t usually swap material. The Solar System is a violent environment, full of asteroid and comet collisions. Yet planets are too large and heavy to be influenced by these. When massive and energetic collisions hit your planet, the worst is a crater and a blanket of debris.

However, if the hit is large and strong, the debris can be thrown into space. Many of our Solar System’s moons, including those of Earth, Pluto, and Mars, were formed by the coalescence of debris after a massive collision. Some of the debris returns to the planet; while the remainder is entirely ejected from the planetary system. Thus, material from one planet can theoretically be transferred to another.

We know this to be true in practice. Mars fragments have been discovered on Earth, and new ones fall to our planet every few years.

As of 2022, there are 300 known Martian meteorites. Based on radiometric dating, we may determine that the meteorites from Mars are extremely young: only around three of them are older than 1.4 billion years, with the majority formed only a few hundred million years ago.

Here is an image of the Martian pieces on Earth:

 

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Read Further: Mars

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