Figure 27-10: R I V U X G
A Meteorite from Mars (a) This 1.9-kg meteorite, known as ALH 84001, formed on Mars some 4.5 billion years ago. About 16 million years ago a massive impact blasted it into space, where it drifted in orbit around the Sun until landing in Antarctica 13,000 years ago. The small cube at lower right is 1 cm (0.4 in.) across. (b) This electron microscope image, magnified some 100,000 times, shows tubular structures about 100 nanometers (10-7 m) in length found within the Martian meteorite ALH 84001. One controversial interpretation is that these are the fossils of microorganisms that lived on Mars billions of years ago.
A Meteorite from Mars (a) This 1.9-kg meteorite, known as ALH 84001, formed on Mars some 4.5 billion years ago. About 16 million years ago a massive impact blasted it into space, where it drifted in orbit around the Sun until landing in Antarctica 13,000 years ago. The small cube at lower right is 1 cm (0.4 in.) across. (b) This electron microscope image, magnified some 100,000 times, shows tubular structures about 100 nanometers (10-7 m) in length found within the Martian meteorite ALH 84001. One controversial interpretation is that these are the fossils of microorganisms that lived on Mars billions of years ago.
(a: NASA Johnson Space Center; b: Science, NASA)