Meteorites from Mars

Scientists have identified more than 300 meteorites that have come from Mars. Suspicions about their origin were first raised when meteorites that appeared to be volcanic rocks were found to have ages of about 1.3 billion years instead of the 4.5 billion years of all other meteorites. These rocks had to have come from a body that was geologically active in the comparatively recent past, and Mars was the most likely candidate. The rocks also have similar ratios of oxygen isotopes, which are distinctively different from those of Earth rocks, lunar rocks, and other meteorites. A Martian origin was finally proved when it was found that several of them contained trapped gases with a composition identical to that of the Martian atmosphere as measured by the Viking landers. The rocks are thought to have been ejected from the Martian surface by large impacts. They then went into solar orbit for several million years before falling on Earth. Claims in the mid-1990s of finding evidence for past microscopic life in one of the meteorites, called ALH84001, have been viewed skeptically by the general science community (see below The question of life on Mars).

Martian moons

Little was learned about the two moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos, after their discovery in 1877 until orbiting spacecraft observed them a century later. Viking 1 flew to within 100 km (60 miles) of Phobos and Viking 2 to within 30 km (20 miles) of Deimos.

Phobos revolves around Mars once every 7 hours 39 minutes. It moves in an exceptionally close orbit at a mean distance of about 6,000 km (3,700 miles) from the surface—less than twice the planet’s radius. It is so near that, without internal strength, it would be torn apart by gravitational (tidal) forces (see Roche limit). These forces also slow the motion of Phobos and may ultimately cause the satellite to collide with Mars, possibly in less than 100 million years. Deimos suffers the opposite fate. It moves in a more distant orbit, and tidal forces are causing it to recede from the planet. Phobos and Deimos are not visible from all locations on the planet because of their small size, proximity to Mars, and near-equatorial orbits.

Both moons are irregular chunks of rock, roughly ellipsoidal in shape. Phobos is the larger of the two. Phobos’s rugged surface is totally covered with impact craters. The largest, the crater Stickney, is about half as wide as the satellite itself. Its surface also exhibits a widespread system of linear fractures, or grooves, many of which are geometrically related to Stickney. In contrast, the surface of Deimos appears smooth, as its many craters are almost completely buried by fine debris, and it shows no fracture system. The difference in appearance between the two moons is thought to be related to the final disposition of the debris produced by impacts. In the case of the inner, more massive Phobos, the ejected material either fell back to the surface or, if it left the satellite with enough velocity to go into space, subsequently fell on Mars. For the more-distant, smaller Deimos, debris thrown off the satellite remained in orbit until it was recaptured, sifting down to blanket its surface.

The albedo, or reflectivity, of the surfaces of both moons is very low, similar to that of the most primitive types of meteorites. One theory of the origin of the moons is that they are asteroids that were captured when Mars was forming.