Was this a long time ago?
Are they still coming through our atmosphere today?
Could we intercept one?, if so. (Assuming a better study since the earth's atomsphere contaminates/morphs the rock rendering it hard to study, so to speak.
2007-12-04 04:58:01 · 4 answers · asked by Jansen J 4 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
Martian rocks have ended up on earth most likely according to this scenario:
1. A big meteor or an asteroid strikes Mars, sending a bunch of Martian rocks high into the sky at great speeds.
2. Some of the ejected rocks are going so fast that they exceed Mars' escape velocity. This means they don't fall back down to the Martian surface, but instead go into orbit around the sun.
3. Some of the orbiting rocks are thrown into orbits that come close to the earth's orbit. Still, the rocks and the earth are seldom in the same place at the same time.
4. After perhaps millions of years of orbiting the sun, some of the rocks hit the earth.
> Was this a long time ago?
> Are they still coming through our atmosphere today?
They are probably not still coming through our atmosphere today, because big meteor/asteroid strikes (Step 1) are much rarer today than they were a few billion years ago.
2007-12-04 05:11:19 · answer #1 · answered by RickB 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
During the early years of the Earth (just as it was born), an asteroid or another planet most likely crashed into Mars, sending Marsian rocks into space. Some most likely crashed into the Earth, and some are still preserved.
Same story with the Moon.
2007-12-04 21:06:30 · answer #2 · answered by Minh V 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A large meteor or asteroid hits Mars, blasting out a big crater. Some of the rock is blasted out of that crater with so much force that it escapes Mars completely and flies through space. It may orbit the Sun for millions of years before, by chance, landing on Earth.
2007-12-04 05:02:38 · answer #3 · answered by campbelp2002 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The theory is, a large meteor impacted Mars, and blasted millions of fragments out into space - fast enough to escape Martian gravity. The fragments wander around the solar system for thousands to millions of years, and eventually, impact a planet - like Earth.
It's possible (and likely) there are many more fragments out there, but most are way too small to track or detect.
2007-12-04 05:07:03 · answer #4 · answered by quantumclaustrophobe 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋