Fri October 12, 2012 For Sale: A Chunk Of Mars Originally
published on Tue October 23, 2012 2:31 pm Few things are as rare
as a piece of rock that falls from outer space and crashes onto
Earth. Among the most prized of these meteorites are from Mars.
Friday, scientists describe the latest one discovered: It's
called Tissint, and this weekend you can buy a piece of it.
First, it's clear to experts that Tissint is extraordinary as
well as extraterrestrial. It contains a unique story about Mars.
Says meteoriticist Caroline Smith of the London Museum of
Natural History: "Many people think that this meteorite may well
be one of the most important meteorites that have actually
fallen in the last century." She's one of those people. The
museum owns the biggest piece of Tissint, and Smith is one of
the scientists who described it in the journal Science on
Friday. Tissint's journey began as basaltic volcanic rock on the
Martian surface. Smith says scientists can tell liquid washed
over the rock and weathered it. It de