DELIVERY MECHANISM OF METEORITES FROM THE MOON AND MARS

When asteroids strike the surface of the Moon or Mars, portions of these planetary bodies are launched into space in the same way dust is launched into the air when a child dives onto a bed, and the vast majority of the Moon’s craters were created by asteroid impacts. These craters are preserved as the Moon, unlike Earth, has no weather or active geological process that erodes or otherwise obscures them. A site has been identified on Mars where a tremendous asteroid tangentially struck the Martian surface, and would have —kicked— portions of Mars into space. There are no meteorites from Venus and the likelihood is remote given the high escape velocity necessary to overcome the thick Venusian atmosphere and strong gravitational field. To date the Meteoritical Bulletin has published findings on 65 lunar meteorites and 53 Martian meteorites whose total weight is less than 350 pounds. A significant fraction of this scant amount of material is held in scientific repositories and is unavailable to the public.