Mars Rocks Fell on Morocco, Scientists Say | NBC New York

Mars Rocks Fell on Morocco, Scientists Say

One rock weighs more than two pounds



    Scientists believe the rocks have been flying around the solar system for millions of years.

    Rocks that fell from the sky and landed in Morocco last summer came from Mars, scientists have confirmed.

    The meteorite chunks, including one that weighed more than two pounds, rained down in North Africa last July.

    A special committee of meteorite experts, including some NASA scientists, studied the rocks and determined their origin.

    It is only the fifth time in history that experts have been able to confirm by chemical analysis that rocks landing on Earth came from the red planet.

    Astronomers believe something smashed into Mars millions of years ago and kicked up rock fragments that have been hurtling through the solar system ever since.

    The landscape in parts of Morocco so resembles that of Mars that rovers destined for the red planet are tested there.