To date, only 14 Martian meteorites have been found on Earth, even though calculations indicate that at least 100 tons of Mars material should be landing on our planet every year. In an effort to improve identification of such important specimens, several types of rock which might be found on the planet Mars were placed on the exterior of the Foton-12 spacecraft in September 1999.
One was a fine-grained basalt (a type of lava) thought to be similar to "Barnacle Bill", a rock examined by the Sojourner rover on NASA's 1997 Mars Pathfinder mission. The others are a dolomite, a form of limestone found in northern Italy, and a simulated clod of Martian soil held together with gypsum.
When Foton-12 returned to Earth, the samples were exposed to extreme heating, just like incoming Martian meteorites. By studying the ways in which these rocks are modified by the scorching temperatures, scientists hope to gain valuable information which will aid identification and recovery of the all-important missing Martian meteorites from favoured collecting sites such as the Antarctic ice sheet.
(Thanks to Peter Bond of the Royal Astronomical Society for the information on Foton-12)
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