NASA’s Opportunity rover found a rock on Mars that no scientist has ever seen before?except here on Earth. It’s similar to meteorites that have come from Mars and impacted the Earth. Many scientists now think that life traveled from Mars to Earth in the form bacteria riding on meteorites, making us all Martians.
Scientists know that about 20 known meteorites came from Mars because the bubbles of gas trapped inside them match the Martian atmosphere. But similar rocks have never been seen on the surface of Mars until now. NASA’s Christian Schroeder says, “There is a striking similarity in spectra.”
One of the similar meteorites was found in India in 1865, while the other was found in Antarctica as recently as 1979. The main ingredient in all these meteorites, as well as the rock just found on Mars, is a mineral called pyroxene that is formed in volcanoes. NASA thinks the meteorites may have been shot out of a Martian volcano with such force that they made it all the way to Earth.
Bacteria from Mars may have been the beginning of us all, but bacteria from Long Island could be the end of us!
NOTE: This news story, previously published on our old site, will have any links removed.
Subscribers, to watch the subscriber version of the video, first log in then click on Dreamland Subscriber-Only Video Podcast link.