Heat Shield Rock
| Heat Shield Rock | |
|---|---|
"Heat Shield" Rock.
|
|
| Type | Iron |
| Group | Probably IAB |
| Composition | 93% Iron, 7% nickel, trace of germanium (~300 ppm) & gallium (<100 ppm) |
| Region | Meridiani Planum |
| Coordinates | 1°54′S 354°30′E / 1.9°S 354.5°ECoordinates: 1°54′S 354°30′E / 1.9°S 354.5°E |
| Observed fall | No |
| Found date | January 2005 |
| Alternative names | Meridiani Planum meteorite |
 |
|
Heat Shield Rock is a basketball-sized iron-nickel meteorite found on Mars by the Mars rover Opportunity in January 2005. The meteorite was formally named Meridiani Planum meteorite by the Meteoritical Society in October, 2005 (meteorites are always named after the place where they were found).
Opportunity encountered the meteorite entirely by chance, in the vicinity of its own discarded heat shield (hence the name). Opportunity had been sent to examine the heat shield after exiting the crater Endurance. This was the first meteorite found on another planet and the third found on another Solar System body — two others, the millimeter-sized Bench Crater and Hadley Rille, were found on the Moon.
The rock was initially identified as unusual in that it showed, from the analysis with the Mini-TES spectrometer, an infrared spectrum that appeared unusually similar to a reflection of the sky. In-situ measurements of its composition were then made using the APXS, showing the composition to be 93% Iron, 7% nickel, with trace amounts of germanium (~300 ppm) and gallium (<100 ppm). Mössbauer spectra show the iron to be primarily in metallic form, confirming its identity as an iron-nickel meteorite, composed of kamacite with 5–7% nickel. This is essentially identical to the composition of a typical IAB iron meteorite found on Earth. The surface of the rock shows the regmaglypts, or pits formed by the ablation of a meteorite during passage through the atmosphere, characteristic of meteorites.
...
Wikipedia