An incredibly rare discovery -- The largest piece of Mars on Earth, ejected from the Martian surface by a massive asteroid strike, journeyed 140 million miles through space, and hurtled through Earth's atmosphere before crashing in the Sahara Desert. Discovered on 16 November 2023 by a meteorite hunter in Niger's remote Agadez Region, NWA 16788 is approximately 70% larger than the next largest piece of Mars found on Earth. Pieces of Mars are unbelievably rare: of the more than 77,000 officially recognized meteorites, only 400 are Martian meteorites, with an approximate combined weight of 374 kg (825 pounds). Weighing 24.67 kilograms, NWA 16788 represents approximately 6.5% of all Martian material currently known.

This space rock was only discovered a couple of years ago and might become the most valuable ever found! www.iflscience.com/worlds-large ...

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-- IFLScience (@iflscience.com) Jul 5, 2025 at 2:04 PM