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Planetary science

A chunk of ancient Mars

Nature volume 503, pages 473–474 (2013)Cite this article

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Analysis of a meteorite found in northwest Africa, prosaically named NWA 7533, indicates that it is the first sample of the regolith, or 'soil', of Mars, and is derived from the earliest Martian igneous crust yet identified. See Letter p.513

NASA's decadal survey for planetary science1 concludes that returning samples of the ancient crust of Mars to Earth ranks among its highest priorities for exploring the Solar System. In this issue, Humayun et al.2 (page 513) describe a Martian meteorite sample already on Earth, albeit without the geological context that samples collected on Mars would have. Nonetheless, it is a revealing discovery.

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Figure 1: A piece of the NWA 7533 meterorite found in northwest Africa.

LUC LABENNE/WWW.METEORITES.TV

References

  1. National Research Council. Visions and Voyages for Planetary Science in the Decade 2013–2022 (National Academies Press, 2011).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Harry Y. McSween is in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996–1410, USA.,

    Harry Y. McSween

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  1. Harry Y. McSween
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Correspondence to Harry Y. McSween.

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McSween, H. A chunk of ancient Mars. Nature 503, 473–474 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature12836

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